So, it looks like midnight will come and Congress will turn into a pumpkin. So, what happens tomorrow? See below for a brief explanation.
There are two classifications of Federal employees: Exempt and non-exempt, as in exempt from being furloughed (we used to be called essential and non-essential). Basically the powers on high decide who really needs to be on the job to keep things more or less running. I work in health research, so they need us on the job to maintain patient safety. Social Security and disability checks still need to go out, so they stay on the job. The people who take care of the animals at the National Zoo will still be taking care of the animals. Active duty military stay active, as does any officers needed to maintain public safety.
The members of Congress and their staff need to stay on the job to literally keep the Government running. Have you stopped laughing yet? I can wait.
So who doesn't come to work. Again, it depends. The Smithsonian museums will be closed, as will the national parks. The National Mall is actually a national park. It obviously won't be closed, but there will be no trash pic-up. That will get interesting real fast.There will be barricades put up around the monuments. I hope you have your passport because they won't be processing any applications. Lots of office workers are going to be coming in, shutting their office down, and going home at noon for who knows how long.
Now, about getting paid.
Those of us who are declared exempt and continue to work will get paid. Eventually. Fortunately last Friday was a payday, so Congress has two weeks to get their act together. They are talking about passing a resolution that the military will still get paid. They mean that even if the Republicans are still pouting in two weeks, the military checks will go out.
Congress will still get their paychecks on time, shutdown or not. There has been some noise about having them not get paid during a shutdown like the rest of us, but you can imagine how far that went.
So what happens to those people who were furloughed? Well, in years past Congress passed a resolution granting back pay to everyone who was furloughed. In 1995, that meant people were paid for 3 weeks of not working, which is fair because it wasn't their idea to sit home while Newt and friends threw a tantrum. However, this current batch is just nasty enough to claim that they can't possibly add to the deficit by granting all that back pay.
So, we shall see what happens. But I can tell you one thing that will happen tomorrow. The Affordable Care Act will go into effect. Health exchanges will open. Thousands of people who couldn't get health insurance before will actually have a choice of policies.
So, why are we shutting down again?