At 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday, the federal government will shut down unless Congress can pass a short-term funding measure.
House Speaker Mike Johnson entered the U.S. Capitol Friday morning saying he had a plan and to expect a vote later, but did not elaborate further.
Congress has been on a rollercoaster since Wednesday, when a bipartisan agreement that would have funded the federal government into March came apart. House Republicans balked at the size of the agreement, egged on by billionaire businessman Elon Musk. The negotiated agreement included $100 billion in disaster relief, $10 billion in aid to farmers and dozens of other provisions.
A Plan B, a slimmed down version devised by Republicans only, added a two year suspension of the debt ceiling. It failed to pass the House Thursday evening, despite the support of president-elect Donald Trump. Of Colorado’s eight Representatives, only GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert voted for it.
Boebert’s yes vote was an about-face from her stated opposition to using short-term measures to fund the government.
“Continuing Resolutions are a DISASTER, and I will NOT be voting for them!” she wrote on social media the day before. In an interview, Boebert predicted only a “clean CR” — one that only funds the government at current levels and does not include anything else — could pass the House, and even that she would not vote for.
Other Republicans from states hit by hurricanes this year or with strong agriculture interests said they would not support a CR unless it included disaster aid and assistance to farmers.
Democrats, for their part, seem unwilling at to help Johnson pass any stopgap measure after he reneged on the bipartisan bill
The longest government shutdown happened in 2018, during Trump’s first term. It also started around the winter holidays and lasted 35 days, costing the economy approximately $11 billion dollars, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. But that was considered only a partial shutdown because some appropriations bills had been signed into law, so not all parts of the federal government were closed. That would not be the case this time around.
Another shutdown happened in 2013, at the start of the new fiscal year and lasted 16 days. It reduced GDP by $20 billion, per Moody’s.
A shutdown impacts discretionary spending, which is set by the budget bills that Congress is required to pass and the president must sign into law. Things like Medicare and Medicaid payments and Social Security are not funded through an appropriations bill and so should continue uninterrupted.
Still, a shutdown could have impacts on Coloradans in large and small ways across the state, especially if it were not quickly resolved.
If you’re flying soon…
Air traffic controllers and most TSA employees are considered “essential workers” and so have to stay on the job, even if it means working without pay while the rest of the federal government shuts down.
On X, TSA head David Pekoske said his agency expects to screen 40 million passengers through the end of the year.
“While our personnel are prepared to handle high volumes of travelers and ensure safe travel, please be aware that an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports,” he warned.
If a shutdown drags on, travelers could see more “sick outs” of key personnel. That happened during the last government shutdown as workers showed their anger over missing paychecks.
Lastly, if you’re planning on any international travel in the new year, you may need to build in even more time for passport renewals. The U.S. Passport agency will remain open, but it could take longer to process applications with some employees furloughed.
What about those holiday cards and packages?
The Postal Service will keep the mail moving as usual in the event of a shutdown. The U.S.P.S. is primarily self-funded (think of all the Forever stamps on those holiday cards) and doesn’t depend on the appropriations process to continue running as usual.
Food aid and other safety net programs
In a shutdown, the first to feel the pinch could be the mothers and young children who rely on the WIC food program. That benefit cuts off almost immediately. According to Colorado’s WIC dashboard, almost 100,000 clients were enrolled in the program in November 2024. Funding for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, will last longer, but could also run out if a shutdown drags on.
There could be missed paychecks
Perhaps the biggest impacts will be felt by the state’s approximately 39,800 federal employees and 36,400 active duty military service members, who do not get a paycheck during a government shutdown.
The Pentagon warned Thursday that if there is a shutdown, service members will not get their paycheck at the end of the month.
While many will have to keep working without getting paid, many more will be furloughed until the government is funded again. And that means work will slow to a crawl at offices across the federal system.
The only salaries the federal government continues to pay during a shutdown will be members of Congress and the president, according to the Constitution. However, elected officials can request that their paychecks be deferred while a shutdown is ongoing.
National Parks a big question mark
It’s unclear what the Department of Interior will do when it comes to keeping public lands open or not. During the 2018-19 shutdown, the Trump administration kept National Parks accessible to the public, even as many Park Service employees had to stay home.
At the time, there were reports of damage and trash in the unattended parks. And a GAO opinion in September 2019 found the Trump administration violated federal law when it used entrance fees to keep the parks accessible.
In 2013, the Obama administration closed national parks, but some states, including Colorado, paid to keep theirs open. Gov. Jared Polis appears prepared to do that again.
“Colorado will work with NPS to continue to keep our State parks open to visitors so they can continue to have access to Colorado’s outdoors and our nation's best outdoor amenities and facilities,” a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis said Thursday.
The weather forecasts will keep coming
Ahead of past possible shutdowns, the National Weather Service has said it would continue to provide routine forecasts, as well as extreme weather watch and warning information through its forecasting offices in Boulder, Grand Junction and Pueblo.
Many other day-to-day weather operations will also continue uninterrupted, including urgent repairs to radars and other key equipment. But a shutdown could delay routine maintenance, upgrades and long-term projects of less-critical services, according to NWS.
Previous government shutdowns have delayed the processing of long-term weather and climate data at other federal agencies.
The shutdown in October 2013, for example, prevented the U.S. Geological Survey from gathering and analyzing information on damage caused by catastrophic flooding that occurred across the Front Range just a few weeks prior, according to an assessment from the Obama administration.
The data loss prevented scientists and first responders from fully assessing the effects of the $4 billion disaster and likely hurt the federal government’s ability to share timely information with state officials about possible pollution caused by the flooding in the South Platte River Basin, the assessment found.
