FriendBurst Blog

The Costs of Government Shutdowns

The first of the two government shutdowns in 1995-1996 lasted only six days, from November 14 to November 20. Following the six-day shutdown, the Clinton administration released an estimate of what the six days of an idled federal government had cost.

* Lost Dollars: The six-day shutdown cost taxpayers about $800 million, including $400 million to furloughed federal employees who were paid, but did not report to work and another $400 million in lost revenue in the four days that the IRS enforcement divisions were closed.

How a Government Shutdown Might Affect You

As directed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the federal agencies now maintain contingency plans for dealing with government shutdowns. The emphasis of those plans is to determine which functions should continue. Most notably, the Department of Homeland Security and its Transportation Security Administration (TSA) did not exist in 1995 when the last long-term government shutdown took place. Due to the critical nature of their function, it is highly likely that the TSA would continue to function normally during a government shutdown.

Based on history, here is how a long-term government shutdown might impact some government-provided public services.

* Social Security: Benefit checks would probably keep coming, but no new applications would be accepted or processed.

* Welfare: Again, the checks would probably continue, but new applications for Food Stamps might not be processed.

* Mail: The U.S. Postal Service supports itself, so mail deliveries would continue as usual.

* National Defense: All active duty members of all branches of all armed services would continue duty as usual. More than half of the Defense Department’s 860,000+ civilian employees would also work.

* Justice System: Federal courts should remain open. Criminals will still be chased, caught, prosecuted and thrown in federal prisons, which would still be operating.

* Farms/USDA: Food safety inspections will probably continue, but rural development, and farm credit and loan programs will probably close down.

* Transportation: Air traffic control, TSA security personnel, and the Coast Guard will remain on the job. Applications for passports and visas may not be processed.

* National Parks/Tourism: Parks and forests will probably remain open, but visitor and interpretive centers will be closed. Non-volunteer rescue and fire control services might be shut down. National monuments and most historic sites will probably be closed.