National Parks, Travel, SNAP, School - Here's How You're Impacted by a Shutdown

UPDATE - September 30, 3:05pm ET

What will be impacted?

• If the shutdown happens, it will be the fourth in a decade. It will lead to the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers across every government agency, including the Department of Defense, the Transportation Security Administration, and the National Park Service.
• An estimated 2.1 million civilian federal workers could see delayed paychecks and four million federal contract workers could receive no pay at all. D.C. area food banks are preparing for a surge in federal workers who will need food assistance in the event of a shutdown.
• Nearly seven million women and children who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) could be at risk of losing assistance almost immediately. 
• Head Start programs, which support over 10,000 disadvantaged children, would immediately lose federal funding. Meals on Wheels, which brings food to elderly people, could be interrupted as well.
• National Parks, visitor centers, museums, and research facilities are expected to close, along with 21 Smithsonian facilities and museums. 
• Immigration courts may close, which would compound the existing backlog.
• U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the shutdown would force the government to "immediately have to stop training new air traffic controllers and furlough another 1,000 controllers who are already in the training pipeline."
• Some clinics are warning that they may need to cut back on services or staff depending on the duration of the shutdown. The National Institutes of Health would furlough nearly 80% of its staff.
• Nearly 1.3 million active-duty servicemembers would continue to work but would not get a paycheck.
• The National Park Service's highly anticipated "Fat Bear Week" will be interrupted.
• Credit rating agency Moody's said that a shutdown would harm the country's credit rating. 

What will not be impacted?

• The Food and Drug Administration will continue as:

"All vital FDA activities related to imminent threats to the safety of human life." 

• Social Security checks will still be issued.
• Veterans Affairs facilities will remain open. 
• Air traffic and airport personnel will still be working, even without pay. During the last shutdown, employees began to call in sick to work in protest.
• Households that receive SNAP benefits will receive them throughout October, but it is unknown how November benefits may be impacted should the shutdown persist.
• The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has enough money to keep paying states for Medicaid and CHIP, the Children's Health Insurance Program, for at least three months. These programs support 90 million Americans.

Are you worried about a shutdown?

-Emma Kansiz

(Photo Credit: iStock/edge)