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News Alert: On September 30, the Republican-controlled Congress failed to pass a government funding bill and the federal government shut down on October 1. Agencies and programs across the federal government may be impacted. For more information, click here.

As of October 1, the federal government has shut down.

On September 30, the Republican-controlled Congress failed to pass a government funding bill, and as a result, the federal government shut down on October 1. The full scale and impact of the shutdown will be determined by the President and his cabinet. Senator Schatz and his colleagues will be in Washington working to try and reopen the government. Our office remains open in a limited capacity, as we have been informed by legal counsel of the United States Senate that some functions must be temporarily suspended, but we will be doing all we can. Please note that during this time, responses to requests for assistance with federal agencies, meetings, tours, or other inquiries may be delayed.

Agencies and programs across the federal government may be impacted by the Republican shutdown. Here’s the latest information on how it may impact Hawai‘i:

During a federal government shutdown, only certain essential federal activities deemed exempt may continue.  This means that you may experience an interruption in some national programs but not others.  This list details the status of certain federal programs.  You can find the most updated federal agency contingency plans here.  

Federal Workers
  • Federal workers will either be furloughed during the shutdown or continue to work without pay depending on the decision of their employing agency. Please check with your agency to determine your work status.
  • Federal contractors may be impacted by the shutdown depending on the funding available to your employer. Please check with your employer to determine your work status. If impacted, federal contractors are not guaranteed backpay at the end of the shutdown.
  • All federal workers are guaranteed backpay after the conclusion of the shutdown.
  • Federal workers’ health insurance coverage will continue for the duration of the shutdown.
  • Dental, vision, and long-term care insurance will continue for two pay periods, after which you will be responsible for paying premiums to maintain your benefits.
  • Employees working without pay will be able to take paid leave during the shutdown and will be compensated for such leave as part of their backpay after the end of the shutdown.
  • Furloughed employees are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits through the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. After you receive your backpay, you will be required to repay these benefits.
Social Security
  • Social Security and disability checks will continue to be mailed.
Health Care
  • If you are a Medicare or Med-QUEST beneficiary, your benefits will continue uninterrupted. However, you may experience administrative delays. For example, if you lose your Medicare card, it may not be reissued during a shutdown. 1-800-MEDICARE will still be available if you have any questions about your benefits. If a shutdown continues, you will still be able to join or change Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D drug plans during the Medicare open enrollment period beginning on October 15.
  • Routine FDA food safety activities, like routine inspections of facilities, may be delayed. However, FDA will continue activities to mitigate imminent threats to human safety including monitoring for and responding to outbreaks related to foodborne illness and the flu, detecting public health emergencies, and managing recalls.
  • CDC will continue to respond to immediate outbreaks and monitor high-consequence diseases, but public communication about health-related information will be limited or suspended.
  • You may not be able to enroll in a NIH clinical trial.
  • If you receive funding through Department of Health and Human Services agencies, such as NIH or CDC, new awards may be delayed until the end of a shutdown.
Food Assistance
  • The longer a shutdown goes, the greater the impact for nutrition assistance programs, like SNAP and WIC. Within a few days of the start of a shutdown, WIC recipients—including pregnant women, mothers, and young children—may find that money may not be issued on your electronic benefit card.
Public Assistance
  • Recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and unemployment insurance will continue to receive their benefits if states continue to have funds to pay those benefits.
Postal Service
  • Postal offices will remain open and mail will be delivered.
  • The Postal Regulatory Commission will be closed during the shutdown, so there will be delays addressing service concerns.
Military
  • The active-duty military will remain on the job and do not receive pay during a government shutdown.
  • Civilian personnel of the DoD, deemed essential, must also report for work – they will also not be paid during a shutdown; those who are not performing essential functions will be furloughed.
  • Operations “essential” to national security will continue, as will all preparations for troops getting ready for deployment.
  • Contractors performing under a contract (or contract option) that was awarded prior to the expiration of appropriations may continue to provide contract services up to the limit of the funds obligated on the contract.
    • New contracts, including renewals and extensions, will not be executed during the shutdown – only under the rare circumstance that the work is supporting an expected activity.
    • The expiration of appropriations does not require the termination of contracts or issuing of stop work order unless a new obligation of funds is required under the contract and the contract is not required to support an expected activity.
  • Commissaries: Only overseas commissaries and those in remote U.S. locations where are no other reasonable sources of food available for military personnel would remain open.
  • DoD schools: DoD educational activities for the regular school year will continue.
  • Death gratuities: Death gratuities will continue as long as resources remain available.
  • Child care: Each installation will determine whether child development centers continue to operate.
  • Morale, Welfare, and Recreation: As in the past, the new DoD guidance allows morale, welfare and recreation activities that receive any taxpayer funding to operate during a shutdown if they are deemed necessary to support essential operations, such as mess halls, physical training and childcare activities required for readiness.
  • Military academies: Students can continue to attend classes only if the instructor is military or is a contractor paid with prior-year funds.
  • Health care: Military treatment facilities will continue to provide inpatient care as well as acute and emergency outpatient medical and dental facilities. However, elective surgeries and procedures may be delayed. Private sector care under Tricare is not affected.
Veterans
  • Various benefits functions under the Veterans Benefits Administration will continue including the following: Education Benefit Claims processing and payments, insurance processing, loan guaranty programs, Veteran Readiness and Employment payment processing, VBA National Call Centers (except for Education), Compensation and Pension Claims processing and payments, Decision Review Operations Centers and management.
  • The department's suicide prevention hotline will remain operational.
  • Retired pay: Not affected.
  • Health care: Care through the Veterans Health Administration will continue uninterrupted.
  • Burials will continue at VA national cemeteries along with application processing for headstones, markers, and burial benefits. VA will not permanently place headstones or maintain the grounds at VA national cemeteries.
  • The GI Bill hotline will be closed and the VA will not provide Veteran career counseling or transition assistance program activities.
  • VA benefits regional offices will be closed.
Travel & Tourism
  • Air traffic controllers, Transportation Security Administration officers and Customs and Border Protection agents will remain on the job without pay.
  • Inline agriculture inspections at the airport will continue as usual, and the Airport Quarantine and Inspections program will also continue.
  • According to State Department’s latest guidance, consular operations domestically and abroad, including passports, visas, and assisting U.S. citizens abroad, will remain operational if there are sufficient fees to support operations.
    • If a passport agency is in a government building affected by a lapse in appropriations, the facility will continue to remain open.
  • The continuance of consular operations in such instances will be treated on a case-by-case basis.
Federal Courts & Criminal Justice
  • Most federal law enforcement operations will continue.
  • The majority of Border Patrol, customs officers, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees will be retained.
  • Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents in field offices are also exempt.
  • The Administrative Office of U.S. Courts has said that federal courts will be able to remain open and continue operations for at least two weeks. If a shutdown continues, the courts would assess moving into contingency plans.
  • The Justice Department's plan with respect to litigation is the following:
    • Criminal litigation will "continue without interruption as an activity essential to the safety of human life and the protection of property."
    • Civil litigation will be "curtailed or postponed to the extent that this can be done without compromising to a significant degree the safety of human life or the protection of property."
Education
  • If states continue to have funding, all K-12 public, state-based educational programming will carry on as usual.
  • Pell grants and federal direct student loans are mandatory dollars not impacted by a lapse in appropriations. Federal financial aid (Title IV) programs will be operational.
  • Although the federal Department of Education will be closed, the majority of student financial aid processors, call centers, and web sites will remain open/operational.
  • Student loan payments will continue to be processed during the shutdown.
Housing
  • No delays on processing or closing on FHA-insured loans.
  • Assisted Housing payments, including for public housing operations, Section 8 vouchers and Project-based rental assistance will continue as long as funding remains available.
  • Inspections carried out by a contracted third party will continue while funding allows; HUD staff inspections that involve a threat to life or property will continue.
  • HUD will continue to disburse CDBG, HOME, HOPWA, and Homeless Assistance Grant funds and other block grant funds that are already obligated to grantees.
Immigration
  • The Honolulu office of USCIS will remain open.
National Parks, Fish and Wildlife Refuges, National Marine Sanctuaries, and Marine National Monuments
  • National parks, Fish and Wildlife Refuges, National Marine Sanctuaries, and Marine National Monuments may be closed.
Agriculture
  • Meat, poultry, and egg inspections will continue.
  • Most USDA loan activities and farm service programs will cease.
IRS
  • Taxpayer services including call centers and taxpayer assistance centers will close.
  • Tax refunds for late-filers will be delayed, except in cases where refunds for electronically filed, error-free returns can be deposited automatically.
  • The IRS will stop responding to paper correspondence.
  • Tax deadlines are not extended because of a shutdown. Taxpayers remain responsible for timely submitting any filings or tax payments on their original due dates.
Natural Disasters and Disaster Response
  • The Federal Emergency Management Agency will continue to provide services to save lives and property from disaster impacts.
  • The National Weather Service and United States Geological Survey will maintain their capacity to forecast services to saves lives and property.
Trade
  • Services provided by the International Trade Administration, including export market support to businesses, are likely to halt.
Consumer Affairs
  • The Consumer Response Center at the Federal Trade Commission is expected to suspend operations and staff will be unavailable to respond to complaints, inquiries, or requests for information. DoNotCall.gov and all other web-based complaint intake portals, such as ReportFraud.ftc.gov, IdentityTheft.gov, and e-consumer.gov, will suspend operations.
  • The Consumer Sentinel Network at the Federal Trade Commission is expected to remain available to law enforcement organizations on a limited basis in support of activities protecting life and property from imminent threat.
  • Bureau of Consumer Protection activities, including ongoing litigation, under the Federal Trade Commission are expected to continue on a case-by-case basis, focusing on cases with the highest threat of immediate harm and on cases where harm is ongoing.
  • The Federal Communications Commission’s consumer complaint and inquiry phone lines are expected to cease during a lapse.
Native Communities

A memo from the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on how the shutdown is expected to impact Native communities is available here.

Senator Schatz and his colleagues are in Washington working to try and reopen the government. Regular updates will be available on our social media.