(Wink)
If a deal to fund the government fails, it will officially shut down the government. Federal agencies have been preparing for the possibility of a shutdown, putting together lists of their essential services and the employees needed to perform those services.
Essential workers would remain on duty, but hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be idled, and some other services that are deemed non-essential would stop.
Here are the answers to some of the questions about the impact of a government shutdown:
Will Social Security payments stop during a shutdown?
No. Social Security, Medicare, unemployment payments would continue.
Would food aid programs be affected?
Federal school breakfast and lunch programs would continue, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) would also continue to be funded. But the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program might be affected.
Can I still get a passport?
Maybe. But it’s probably best to hurry up with that application. The State Department says that processing will continue as long as there are sufficient fees to support operations, Kylie Atwood reports. But if a passport agency in a government building has been closed because of a shutdown, that facility may also be closed. Read more