Yes, a government shut down would have plenty of real-life impacts — just ask workers who won’t be paid
Donald Trump and Elon Musk tanked the spending bill — which Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson had already signed off on — setting the stage for a government shutdown.
President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk have thrown a wrench into the bipartisan stopgap funding plan intended to keep government agencies and processes running through March 14.
On Wednesday, the duo tanked the spending bill, which Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson had signed off on, which includes $100 billion in disaster relief for areas impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and another $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers.
Musk — who none of us elected to any public position — led the charge, with the president-elect following his lead several hours later.
Amid a flurry of social media posts about the bill — including one that threatened to primary any GOP lawmakers who would support the legislation and another that claimed that shutting down the government “doesn’t actually shut down critical functions” — Musk, the world’s richest man, showed just how oblivious he is about the real-life impacts a government shutdown can have on us ordinary people.
According to a pretty comprehensive listing published by Reuters, the following items Musk probably wasn’t thinking about would be affected:
Is your kid in a Head Start preschool program? Well then, bad news. 10,000 children would lose access. Aid for low-income and public housing is also at risk, and food benefits from SNAP could be disrupted.
Hoping to get a loan from the Small Business Administration to start or sustain your business? Think again. (Wait until a billionaire stops playing politics with people’s livelihoods and try then.)
Worried about safety of your workplace? How about the hazardous waste sites in the region? Or the drinking water quality in your neighborhood? Don’t expect inspections of any of those to take place until after government funding is restored.
Additionally, a whole bunch of workers will be furloughed without pay, or be expected to work unpaid, even though their work is critical at this moment.
Case in point? Airport security screeners and air-traffic-control workers will be required to work unpaid during the busiest travel season of the year.
Less annoying but far more worrisome if the shutdown happens, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would have to furlough more than half of its workers and the National Institutes of Health would have to furlough most of its workers at the precise moment when we’re seeing an uptick in human cases of the H5 bird flu.
Really, go read the Reuters piece, because there are so many other impacts of the impending shutdown that are troubling it is impossible to mention them all here.
We’ve all seen this movie, haven’t we? The one where people with loads of money thoughtlessly wreak havoc on the lives of those of us without the insulation of their billions?
The timing, though, is priceless. The Republicans have long crowed about being the party that is unafraid to say “Merry Christmas.” Well then. None of us ordinary folks could have anticipated that this would be the way they’d choose to say it.