President-elect Trump derails agreement to keep the federal government running
San José, CA – With just one day to go before the federal government runs out of funding, President-elect Donald Trump, with the help of billionaire Elon Musk, derailed a bipartisan agreement to keep the government running through March. This plan would have also added billions of dollars in disaster relief aid to help pay for the damage from hurricanes Helene and Milton earlier this year.
A government shutdown would furlough over a million federal workers. More than a million others will have to continue to work, but the furloughed workers and many of those who have to work will go without pay. For example, air traffic controllers are deemed essential and would be required to work without pay. However, there would be likely be higher absenteeism, causing air travel delays.
One service that will be closed would be the National Parks, as almost all of their workers would be furloughed. This would not only be a hardship to the workers and the public, but can actually cause costly damage to the parks, which are facing winter and possibly extreme weather.
Almost six years ago to the day (December 22, 2018), there was the longest federal government shutdown in history, of 35 days. It was also triggered by then-President Trump’s demand for more money for his border wall and unwillingness to compromise. The government was finally reopened when Trump backed down.
Trump and his billionaire backers like Elon Musk have no idea what it means to go without a paycheck, much less during the holiday season. No matter how much he talks about workers and making America affordable again, how can a furloughed worker afford anything without a paycheck?
While federal workers will eventually be repaid their back wages, contract workers will not be getting back pay and might be some of the biggest losers from a federal government shutdown. The number of contract workers has been growing; it was over 4 million in 2017 at the beginning of the first Trump administration. African American workers, who tend to be employed by the federal government at greater rates than the overall labor force, also have the most to lose.