A government shutdown happens when Congress has not passed a full-year funding bill or a Continuing Resolution (CR) for a department or agency. Without a congressionally approved budget, agencies are required to shut down and only excepted activities involving the safety of human life or protection of property may continue. Each agency develops its own contingency plan, with guidance from the White House Office of Management and Budget.
In prior shutdowns, border protection, in-hospital medical care, air traffic control and law enforcement have been deemed essential and therefore kept operational. However, other services — including Social Security checks, the processing of disability determinations and replacement cards for Medicare and Social Security benefits, and customer service for student loan borrowers — will likely be slowed or stopped.
Mandatory spending that is not subject to annual appropriation — such as Social Security and Medicaid — has generally continued during past shutdowns. Also, activities that are funded through permanent user fees – such as visa fee collection — have not been affected.
Nevertheless, the impacts of a prolonged shutdown would have broad, real-world effects on communities nationwide, from project delays for city governments and private contractors to diminished federal program benefits to local residents. In addition, a shutdown could play into the hands of strategic adversaries, providing them with ammunition to paint the U.S. as unstable, dysfunctional and unreliable on the world stage, emboldening hostile actors to challenge American strength and influence.