Shutdown would affect 800K federal workers, Senate Dems say
A partial government shutdown would affect 800,000 federal workers, according to projections by Senate Democrats.
If President Trump and congressional leadership fail to reach a deal by Dec. 21, funding for agencies governed by seven appropriations bills would lapse.
That would lead 380,000 workers to be furloughed, including most employees at NASA, the Department of Commerce and the National Park Service. Typically, Congress decides to pay federal employees for shutdown-related furloughs when a deal is struck to end the shutdown, but long furloughs can cause uncertainty and delays in pay.
In the event of a shutdown, staff deemed essential are required to continue working, but without pay. Democrats estimated that some 420,000 workers would fall into that category, including FBI agents, prison correctional officers and Homeland Security employees such as TSA and Customs and Border security.
“The government will shutter the doors of nine federal departments and dozens of agencies during the Trump Shutdown, grinding services to the American people to a halt just three days before Christmas,” said the release, disseminated by Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).
Congress passed five appropriations bills covering the other portions of the government in September, including defense, labor, health and the legislative branch.
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