(AURN News) — The government is officially shut down. More than 750,000 federal workers are waking up to possible pink slips, furloughs or even permanent layoffs, as President Donald Trump vows the shutdown will bring “irreversible” changes.
What’s still running? Medicare, Medicaid, the mail and Social Security checks. But much more is either shuttered or slowed: museums, health services, research labs, national parks and even food inspections. Both the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) could run out of money within a week, cutting off nearly 7 million mothers and children from basic nutrition.
Meanwhile, TSA agents and air traffic controllers are on the job without pay. That means long lines at airports and potentially more sickouts, coordinated call-ins as a form of protest, if the standoff drags on. More than a million members of the military are also working without paychecks.
The Office of Management and Budget told agencies not only to furlough workers but also to draft firing plans. Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats are trading blame.
The last shutdown in 2019 cost the U.S. economy $11 billion.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
