As government remains shut down, here's what's open and closed
The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1, with no end in sight, as Democratic and Republican lawmakers spar over a spending bill. Until a consensus is met, no money will be allowed to flow into the government.
As the country nears its second week without funding, only programs deemed essential for protecting life and property have remained operational — staffed by workers who will not get paid until the government shutdown is lifted.
At the airport, Transportation Security Administration agents and air traffic controllers will continue doing their jobs without the promise of an immediate paycheck.
Travellers could face more delays than usual. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a press conference on that there has already been a slight uptick in the number of workers calling out sick.
"This shutdown has put way more stress on our controllers at a time when they're already working on equipment from the 1960s," Duffy said at the news conference.
Staffing issues for air traffic controllers have already been in the spotlight this year following several major incidents. In May, there were mass delays at Newark Liberty International Airport due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Just months earlier, at Reagan National Airport, a military helicopter collided with an American Airlines flight in January, killing 67 people. One air traffic controller was working the job of two people that night.
Beyond air travel, people who rely on Social Security benefits will continue to receive checks, and coverage for Medicare and Medicaid will continue. Veterans will still be able to access services at Veterans Affairs medical centers, and their benefits will still be delivered.
Programs that offer food benefits will continue temporarily, but will be strained under the government shutdown.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are expected to continue in the short term, but payments depend on contingency funding. A representative for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which operates the program, did not specify how much contingency funding exists for SNAP. The representative said that USDA is “preparing for all contingencies.”
A different food benefits program — the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) — is more at-risk. The president of the National WIC Association, Georgia Machell, estimated in a Sept. 29 statement that WIC only has the funding to last one week under a government shutdown. That deadline is rapidly approaching.
“The timing of this shutdown threat at the start of the fiscal year puts WIC at risk of rapidly running out of funds,” Machell said in the statement.
An OMB spokesperson reiterated the dire status of WIC benefits and said that funding would run out in October. A USDA spokesperson said that states will be responsible for choosing whether to fund WIC after federal funds dry up.
The Smithsonian announced on Oct. 6, when museums were originally set to close doors, that the museums and the National Zoo will now be able to remain open . After Oct. 11, if the shutdown is still in place, the Smithsonian will close. Zoo animals will still be fed and cared for.
The national parks will remain , though access may vary depending on the park. Most roads, trails and open-air memorials will still be accessible, but any building that is locked in a park's off-hours will be closed.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection will keep operating, an OMB spokesperson confirmed to the Washington News Bureau.
Military operations will also continue as usual.
A spokesperson for the National Guard said that National Guard members on active orders will still work. This comes as Trump has deployed or promised to deploy the National Guard to cities across the U.S., including Washington, D.C., Memphis, Tennessee, Chicago, Illinois, and Portland, Oregon.
The U.S. Postal Service is not affected by government shutdowns as it is independently funded by the sale of its products.
Beyond essential workers, thousands of federal employees have been furloughed, which means they are put on an unpaid leave of absence. Those employees will receive retroactive pay once the shutdown is over, per a 2019 .
