Government Shutdown
Introduction
A government shutdown in the U.S. politics is where the executive branch of the federal government intervenes when there is a funding gap. In essence, the intervention is done when the Congress decides against passing legislation that supports funding of government operations and activities. With reference to the “funding gap”, it is the time interval when the interim or full-year appropriations are not enacted into law as expected by the Congress and the President (Brass p. 2). As such, it is apparent that a government shutdown has a number of implications on the overall economy of the country and federal government employees who form an important part of U.S. economy. In addition, the government shutdown can delay important activities and government processes hence undermining economic development (Fuscaldo). Recently, the United States has been on the brink of experiencing a government shutdown hence this therefore raises the critical question of what the implications are likely to be triggered by this situation. This paper is therefore an endeavor to examine the implications of a government shutdown to the U.S.
Implications of a government shutdown i. Federal Government Employees If a government shutdown is to occur based on the current situation, one of the most affected groups would be federal government employees. In this case, a shutdown is likely to take toll of employees working in federal agencies because they are unlikely to get a paycheck. This implies that families of these employees are also likely to be affected in the sense that it would be a daunting and tough task meeting bills (Cummiskey Para 6). In a similar vein, Fuscaldo (2015) asserts that families are likely to be massively affected by the predicted government shutdown because “nearly all government workers would see their paychecks