Commuting on Capitol Hill is never easier than the weeks before and after the Christmas holidays. The lights are on, but hardly anyone is home at the various administrative agencies that make up the federal government.
More than just travel advice, this fact is worth bearing in mind as it is beginning to look a lot like a government shutdown. Unless Congress includes $5 billion for President Trump’s long-promised border wall, lawmakers will likely miss the midnight deadline on Friday to keep the government up and running.
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What does this mean? Not much. This Christmas season, the White House and Congress are playing a game of chicken with significantly lower stakes than usual. Seventy-five percent of the government has already been funded through next September.
A partial government shutdown wouldn’t affect the Pentagon or Health and Human Services, for instance, because lawmakers already funded those agencies earlier in the year. Federal agencies such as the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Homeland Security, State, and Transportation would temporarily go dark.
Planes will still land, borders will be protected, and federal prisoners will be guarded though, explains Justin Bogie, a senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation. He estimates that around 420,000 “essential federal employees” would continue to clock in and clock out, including 41,000 law enforcement and correctional officers, as well up to 88 percent of Homeland Security employees.
Don’t worry about government benefits either. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will function normally. As Bogie notes, those programs function without Congress or have already been funded.
There will be some pain. The Department of Commerce, NASA, the IRS, and Housing and Urban Development would go dark until lawmakers agree to a deal. By Bogie’s count, up to 380,000 employees at those agencies would be furloughed. But the pain won’t last and the pain won’t be that bad. Everyone gets paid once Republicans and Democrats pass compromise legislation.
Now back to D.C. traffic.
Expect an easy commute, because IRS agents won’t be auditing, NASA pencil pushers won’t be calculating, and HUD planners won’t be planning. Most were headed home for the holidays long before a shutdown loomed anyway.
