The month-long government shutdown is on track to end sometime this week, but the U.S. economy isn’t out of the woods yet.
On Sunday evening, the Senate advanced a deal that would reopen the government through January 31 and unwind mass federal firings carried out by the Trump administration over the past month. The agreement would also guarantee backpay to furloughed federal workers. However, the deal still must undergo two more votes before reaching the House of Representatives. Once the House approves the measure, it will be sent to President Donald Trump for his signature.
For the time being, the shutdown continues to wreak havoc on the U.S. economy. Over 700,000 government employees remain furloughed, and federal agencies remain shuttered.
“The current shutdown looks likely to have the greatest economic impact of any shutdown on record,” Goldman Sachs economist Alec Philips wrote in a report published last week. Projections vary on the total cost, and while most analysts expect the economy to rebound, the Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that up to $14 billion in economic activity could be permanently lost.
Air travel worsened over the weekend as thousands of flights were canceled at major U.S. airports starting Friday, in an attempt to relieve overburdened air traffic controllers working without pay. On Monday morning, President Trump warned air traffic controllers who either missed or skipped work to return immediately or face having their backpay “docked.”
There has also been a turbulent battle over the federal food stamp program. Conflicting court decisions created confusion at the state and local levels over whether the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would be funded partially or in full. One in eight Americans receives weekly benefits under this program.
The Trump administration moved to withhold SNAP benefits, arguing it had exhausted all available funding despite having a sizable emergency reserve. However, a federal appeals court ruled on Sunday that the government must fully finance the program.
Under the Senate deal, federal SNAP funding will be restored through the end of January, providing relief to millions of Americans who rely on these vital benefits.
https://qz.com/shutdown-could-end-this-week-impact-us-economy
