ORLANDO, Fla. – Republicans in Congress are once again at odds over how to fund the government, and if a decision is not made by Dec. 20, the federal government could shut down just before Christmas.
President-elect Trump and Elon Musk scuttled a bipartisan continuing resolution, insisting that Congress lift the debt ceiling or get rid of it entirely.
Now, Congress is scrambling to reach a new deal before the deadline.
We’ve been here before. A government shutdown in 2019 lasted over a month. There were concerns about shutdowns at least twice this year. Government shutdown threats have become so ubiquitous that federal agencies have contingency programs in place.
If the government shuts down, essential services remain in place, but others will be stopped or delayed. Moreover, all federal workers will go without pay, whether they are furloughed or deemed essential and forced to continue to work.
Here are some ways a government shutdown could affect people living in Central Florida.
Thousands of workers won’t get paid, but many will still have to work
Florida has the sixth largest population of civilian federal workers in the country, according to a September 2024 report by the Congressional Research Service.
Of those, nearly 50,000 live in the seven congressional districts that represent the Central Florida area — roughly 53.5% of them.
None of them will get paid if the government shuts down.
However, essential personnel will still have to work. That includes:
- Federal law enforcement
- Air Traffic Controllers
- Transportation Security Administration Personnel screeners
- Customers and Border Protection agents
- Mission-critical NASA employees
- Health care workers for agencies like Medicare and Veterans Affairs
- Justice Department officials
When the government reopens, these workers will get paid eventually, and retroactively. But in the meantime, they will have no money coming into their households.
Need help with Social Security? Be prepared to wait
People who get benefits through the Social Security program will continue to do so. Social Security and Medicare benefits are mandatory sending, so they are not subject to annual appropriations.
However, those who are applying for benefits or waiting for benefits applications to be approved could face longer delays because verification services will be shut down.
People who need help with their benefits may also run into problems as customer service staff is reduced and local offices may cut hours.
Details of previous Social Security Administration contingency plans can be found on the SSA website.
Veterans national cemeteries will not be maintained; benefits offices will close
Most of the important services offered to veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs will continue, including health care, benefits processing, and the Veterans Crisis Line.
However, benefits regional offices will close, including the offices in Orlando and The Villages.
The GI Bill Hotline will be shut down.
The VA will not provide veteran transition assistance program activities.
At VA national cemeteries, burials would continue and the cemeteries will be open. However, the VA will not maintain the grounds or place permanent headstones.
A VA spokesperson released this statement to News 6 Thursday:
In the case of a shutdown, there would be no impact on Veteran health care; burials would continue at VA national cemeteries; VA would continue to process and deliver benefits to Veterans, including compensation, pension, education, and housing benefits; and the Board will continue to process appeals. However, we would not be able to conduct most outreach to Veterans; our public-facing regional offices would be closed; and many regular operations like career counseling, transition assistance, and cemetery grounds maintenance would not be available. (more info can be found here). That’s why Congress must keep the government open -- especially at a time when we’re providing more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before and earning Veteran trust at record rates.
Department of Veterans Affairs
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