Closed for the Holidays?

Daveda Gruber 5 years ago

Closed for the Holidays?

by: Daveda Gruber

We expected it, right? Just in time for Christmas, Democrats and President Trump seem to be at an impasse over a spending bill.

The government partly shutdown at midnight. This latest bill would have provided funds for border security had it passed.

Trump has warned that a closure could drag on “for a very long time.”

The president had urged Senate Republicans to use the “nuclear option” to pass the bill that he would have signed.

The bill includes enough funding for a border wall which would come to $5.7 billion, which Trump wants.

Late on Thursday, the House quickly put together a package but the Senate would not pass it.

The Senate will reconvene at noon Saturday. The Senators will continue to try and convince one and other of what they want.

We don’t even know if there would be fifty-one (51) votes to make the ‘nuclear option’ work to pass the bill but  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has often rejected to use the ‘nuclear option’. The reason for his negativity is that the nuclear option changes Senate procedure to require only a simple majority to approve the spending bill.

Trump has taken to Twitter:

Senate Republicans will not all vote ‘yes’ and at this time I don’t see Democrats coming over to the president’s side.

McConnell spokesperson Don Stewart said in a statement, “The Leader has said for years that the votes are not there in the Conference to use the nuclear option. Just this morning, several Senators put out statements confirming their opposition, and confirming that there is not a majority in the conference to go down that road.”

Approximately one-quarter of the government will be affected in a shutdown.

According to a precedent set during the Reagan administration, federal workers can be exempt from furloughs if their jobs are related to national security or if they perform essential activities that “protect life and property.”

Here is who will work and who won’t:

Nine of the 15 Cabinet-level departments will close, along with dozens of agencies.

Departments closing are:

Agriculture

Commerce

Homeland Security

Housing and Urban Development

Interior

Justice State

Transportation

Treasury

Essential personnel would still be required to work but without pay. Nearly 90 percent of the Homeland Security staff is considered essential.

Many national parks and forests will close.

Over 420,000 people, including law enforcement and Homeland Security workers, will have to work with their pay withheld.

About 53,000 TSA employees, 54,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and 42,000 Coast Guard workers would be required to work without pay.

Also, about 5,000 Forest Service firefighters would need to work.

More than 380,000 people will experience a temporary leave from their work.

A holiday mini vacation?

This includes:

NASA

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Commerce Department and National Park Service workers

Then there are about 52,000 IRS workers would be furloughed.

No loss there. Can you tell I’m not a fan of the IRS?

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will remain open as usual during a partial government shutdown, a spokesman said, because it is “an independent entity that is funded through the sale of our products and services, and not by tax dollars.”

Required to work are:

TSA agents

air traffic controllers

border security agents

Because it is a government-owned corporation, Amtrak, a will continue with normal operations during a short-term shutdown.

To tell you the truth, I’m not affected and you will most likely not be put out.

I’m willing to stay calm. I actually hope that this partial shutdown lasts into the new Senate. A few Republican senators will no longer be there but will be replaced with others who will be more likely to vote ‘yes’ on the bill.

 

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