On Wednesday, Oct. 1, the United States Government shut down for the first time since 2019, following disagreements between both parties about a seven-week spending package, with the central issue being funding for healthcare.
“Americans are going to begin to feel, you know, lags in their benefits. You know, there could be delays in filing beneficiary claims. There could be delays in receiving their beneficiaries’ payments. It could be, you know, long lines at the airports. I mean, any number of things, you know, veterans coming to receive services could be affected by that, you know?”, said the American Federation of Government Employee’s National President, Everett Kelley in an interview with NPR’s Leila Fadel. “It’s a lot of things that are going to occur because of these actions, you know? So I’m encouraging, you know, the Congress to do their job, to figure out – get in a room, shut the door, figure out a way to get the American people what they deserve. And that is put the federal workforce back to work so they can provide the services for the American people.”
This government shutdown affects Mt. SAC students in a variety of ways. Those who take out student loans may find that there are delays in the processing of funds. However since the FAFSA application was launched prior to October 1, meaning that there shouldn’t be anything that withholds funds. Though, it is worth mentioning that if something goes wrong with the system or website, it may take more time than usual to fix.
For students and their families who utilize SNAP, the payment for the month of October will and has still been sent out, though depending on how long the shutdown lasts, we could potentially see delays or interruption of payments. This is dependent on the USDA’s timeliness on sending out instructions to the program.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, better known as WIC, a program dedicated to feeding women, children, and newborns in low income areas also has risks posed to it. Considering the program is funded annually, said funding could run out fairly quickly, which leaves those who benefit from it without funding to rely on.
Traveling will prove more difficult, as TSA agents and air traffic controllers are expected to continue working, however without pay. National parks and other various government sights such as the Library of Congress are expected to close, with some national parks remaining open with no one manning any of the portions that often have workers within them.
A memo that was released by the Office of Management and Budget, which prompted a ‘reduction in force,’ meaning that multiple government employees would have their position eliminated. This would also worsen the already existing situation following the Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts earlier on into the administration.
Healthcare will take a hit as well, with various services, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health are all placed in a position where they have to furlough a relatively large percentage of their employees.
Currently, the official White House website has a counter set for how long the shutdown has lasted, with a message that is currently pushing blame on democrats. Currently, there is no approximation for how long the shutdown may last, though information is constantly flowing.
