But there are twice as many workers contracted by the federal government than there are federal employees. These more than 4 million workers will be furloughed, and their lost wages will not be made up.

Depending on the length of the partial shutdown, making ends meet will be difficult for federal employees who lose pay, estimated at about $400 million each day. But the partial shutdowns have had a relatively small economic impact once they end, when back pay is made to employees the programs resume functioning.

However, this time could be different. During the last major shutdown, in Trump’s first term, new job creation was good, with about 150,000 new jobs being created each month. But in this time, job growth has only been about 25,000 jobs per month and is more likely to be hit harder by the losses from a partial shutdown.

In the first sign that the economy took a turn for the worst in September, the ADP, or Automatic Data Processing, report on non-government jobs showed a loss of 32,000 jobs, when a gain of 45,000 jobs was expected. Further, the August report was revised down to a loss of 3000 jobs, when the initial report was a gain of 54,000. Together with the loss of 23,000 jobs in June, this is the longest stretch of job losses reported since the recession of 2020.

Government job losses will add to decline in private sector jobs, as more than 150,000 federal workers who accepted a buyout during the DOGE cuts earlier this year will lose their severance pay September 30 and be unemployed. Further, Trump and other Republicans have threatened to fire even more federal workers, which hasn’t been done in previous shutdowns.

At the center of the political disputes are the large cuts in health insurance in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill. The cuts to Medicaid, the federal government health insurance for low income households, will lead to more than 10 million people losing their Medicaid insurance coverage. To make things worse, there is no money in the budget to extend subsidies to buy private insurance, causing those costs to more than double in 2026, forcing another 4 million to give up their health insurance. Last but not least, insurance companies are planning to increase premiums on average 20% next year.

Democrats have refused to vote for these cuts to health insurance, which is blocking the budget vote. But Republicans have been unwilling to negotiate, with the House of Representatives voting to keep the cuts and then headed home. President Trump and Senate Republicans are also insisting on the cuts, leading to a stalemate and the partial government shut down.

#SanJoseCA #CA #CapitalismAndEconomy #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #Shutdown #Federal

San José, CA – At 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, December 22, nine of 15 agencies of the federal government will shut down over President Trump’s demand for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Almost 400,000 federal workers would be furloughed, and another 400,000 so-called essential workers will have to go to work without pay. This comes to about 40% of the 2 million federal government workers. In past shutdowns, federal workers got backpay at a cost of billions of dollars to the government. But there are millions of contractors and contract workers who will probably not be paid, right in the middle of the holiday season.

The largest union representing federal workers, the American Federation of Government Employees, or AFGE, noted that the average worker in their union brings home only $500 a week, and that going without pay during the holidays would be a real hardship. This is actually the third shutdown of the federal government under President Trump this year alone. Federal workers have also had to fight a proposed wage freeze by Trump and the president’s effort to weaken protections for federal workers.

Many agencies that oversee the federal health care programs Medicare and Medicaid, retirement and disability payments under Social Security, Veterans Affairs, and the Post Office will continue to function. One the other hand, one of the affected agencies will be the National Park Service. While some parks will remain open, 80% of Park Service workers will be furloughed and many services closed or cut. On the other hand, TSA agents will continue work at airports as “essential workers,” but without pay.

Last week in a meeting with congressional leaders, President Trump said, “I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you [the Democrats] for it.” But on Friday, Trump spent the day trying to blame the Democrats for his decision not to sign a bill extending government operations through February. Trump also threatened that the shutdown “would be a long one” if he did not get funding for a border wall.

Trump’s demand for a wall is part of his crackdown on immigrants and refugees. Under his policies almost 15,000 children have been incarcerated in concentration camps near the U.S.-Mexico border. Refugees from Central America are being turned away and deported, with some meeting their deaths in U.S. custody, while waiting in Mexico, or after being sent back to violence that caused them to leave in the first place.

#SanJoséCA #ImmigrantRights #US #PeoplesStruggles #economy #Trump #Shutdown

Behind the shutdown is Trump’s attempt to use the 800,000 undocumented youth who signed up for the DACA program, which allowed them to work and drive, as hostages to get his wall on the Mexican border; ending the diversity visa that brings in many African immigrants, and limiting legal immigration.

Funding for the federal government actually ran out last Oct. 1, and temporary spending agreements pushed the deadline back. Even if no spending bill is passed by Friday night, most of the federal government: Social Security, Medicare, and the military will continue to operate. Mail will be delivered and air traffic controllers will continue work at airports.

However, many civilian federal workers would be furloughed without pay starting Monday. As the shutdown continues, national parks could close, government and military contractors would not be paid, and many so-called ‘non-essential’ services would be suspended.

A much bigger financial hurdle for the federal government comes in late March or early April. The federal debt ceiling will stop the government from continuing to borrow and spend, unless there is an agreement to increase the debt limit. Given the large budget deficit, not being able to borrow would mean immediate cuts to Social Security, Medicare or military spending, as there is not enough other spending to cut.

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