From Tax Refunds to Restrooms, What the Shutdown Has Shut Down

by Dramelin 1:30 AM 0 comments

The Ohio Clock strikes midnight outside the Senate Chamber at the Capitol Building in Washington on Saturday, Jan.
Visitors to national parks will be prevented from using the full-service restrooms.
Tourists won’t be able to get into the National Air and Space Museum after Sunday.
The Internal Revenue Service will stop issuing refunds, but it will also stop conducting audits.
At first glance, the tangible consequences of the latest government shutdown may seem less than overwhelming.
After all, the mail will still get delivered, airport control towers will still be staffed and the border patrol will continue to guard the country.
But in ways large and small, the shutdown that began at midnight Friday could touch almost every aspect of American life.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will stop investigating new victim complaints and taking fresh action against suspected wrongdoers.
The National Labor Relations Board will stop investigating charges of workers’ rights being violated.
The Bureau of Land Management will stop issuing permits for oil and gas drilling.
The Federal Aviation Administration will stop issuing approvals for drones.
The Justice Department will suspend civil litigation.
The government will stop issuing Social Security cards, and anyone trying to visit a U.
military cemetery overseas will find themselves barred at the gate.
Agencies have no shortage of options for declaring some of what they do exempt from the shutdown.
Government functions that don’t depend on annual appropriations from Congress, for example activity financed by user fees or multi-year funds, will continue; so will activity that Congress has specifically exempted.
Perhaps the largest exemption is any function deemed "necessary for safety of human life or protection of property.
" How long the shutdown will last is impossible to guess; so too is which party will take more of the blame.
But for as long as it continues, the shutdown demonstrates the nearly endless ways in which the federal government has come to affect the economy, the financial sector, the workplace and the environment.
Treasury The Treasury Department, which includes the IRS, will send home more than 83 percent of its 88,268 workers.
White House The Executive Office of the President will be dramatically pared down, according to a memo released on Friday night.
Securities and Exchange Commission Operations at the Securities and Exchange Commission are set to be sharply curtailed.
  At the 675-person Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the country’s main swaps regulator, the vast majority of activity will likewise grind to a halt.
  Business & Economy The shutdown is likely to postpone the release of market-moving economic data, depending how long it continues.
Workplace Safety & Labor Many programs at the Department of Labor designed to help workers will stop.
 Other federal offices designed to protect workers’ rights will also close their doors.
Energy & Environment Oil, gas and coal companies should see little impact on day-to-day operations, as several federal agencies dip into non-lapsing appropriations and use exemptions to ensure most permits keep flowing and inspectors don’t stop examining drilling rigs and coal mines.
Parks & Public Lands The administration is taking steps to mitigate the effect on national parks, which generally were closed in past shutdowns.
"National parks and other public lands will remain as accessible as possible while still following all applicable laws and procedures," said Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift.
Transportation The transportation system will function at close to its normal level, at least initially.
Health About half the staff at the Department of Health and Human Services will be furloughed, according to a plan posted on the department’s website Friday.
The resulting changes will reverberate across a range of functions that affect the average person.
Law Enforcement & Courts The law exempts from the shutdown those employees who are deemed necessary to protect life or property.
Most types of law enforcement and criminal justice fit into that category.
National Security & Foreign Affairs At the Defense Department, military personnel are expected to report for duty, but won’t get paid until the shutdown ends.
As for civilian workers, those performing activities excepted from the shutdown, such as protecting property or lives or supporting combat operations, will likewise have to work; the rest can stay home.
That doesn’t mean the department isn’t affected.
The effects of a shutdown on foreign and trade policy may be minimal.
— With assistance by Catherine Traywick, Alan Levin, Jennifer A Dlouhy, Susan Decker, Ari Natter, Nick Wadhams, Josh Eidelson, Greg Stohr, Nafeesa Syeed, , Benjamin Bain, Naureen S Malik, , Andrew Mayeda, Saleha Mohsin, Alan Bjerga, David McLaughlin, David Marino, and Sahil Kapur.