There are few states more likely to be watching what happens now that the federal government has been shut down than Mississippi.
A government shutdown happens when Congress fails to pass the necessary appropriations bills to fund government operations, leading to the suspension of nonessential government services and affecting hundreds of thousands of federal workers. The shutdown began Wednesday.
There are 27,400 federal jobs in Mississippi, which account for 2.3% of all non-farm jobs in the state. How many of those workers will be furloughed, perhaps even fired, is uncertain. Essential workers will not be furloughed or fired, although they may not be paid for their work. Mail service, air traffic control, veterans services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will continue,
Military personnel, including the state’s 12,500 National Guardsmen, will work but not be paid.
In fact, by law, the only people that have to be paid during a shutdown are U.S. senators, representatives and the president. A cynic notes the irony: Those responsible for the shutdown are guaranteed to be the least affected by it.
Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare will not be affected, but some call centers will be closed during the shutdown.
Aside from the federal jobs, many more Mississippians will be directly impacted. Until the impasse ends and programs are funded, many programs risk running out of money. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will run out of funds by the end of October. That would be a staggering blow to Mississippi, where 13.1% of its population (385,000) received SNAP benefits. The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program will also run out of funds by the end of the month. There are 60,262 Mississippians who receive WIC benefits.
It is clear that a prolonged shutdown could have grave consequences for Mississippians, especially the state’s poorest citizens.
The last federal shutdown began on Dec. 22, 2018 and ended Jan. 25, 2019, when Congress reached an impasse over funding for a wall on the U.S./Mexico border.
The 35-day shutdown, the longest in history, cost the United States an estimated $3 billion in lost GDP, as 300,000 federal workers were furloughed and unpaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The report released by the CBO says the shutdown “delayed approximately $18 billion in federal discretionary spending for compensation and purchases of goods and services and suspended some federal services.”
Approximately $6 billion was withheld from employees who worked during the shutdown, but received back pay when the government reopened, according to the report.
Democrats wanted to prevent Obamacare subsidies from lapsing and reverse cuts to Medicaid funding enacted by Trump’s tax law, known as the Big Beautiful Bill. When Republicans refused, the impasse led to the shutdown.
Who’s to blame?
In 2013, during a shutdown during Obama’s second term, Trump laid the blame for shutdown at the feet of the president:
“You have to get everybody in a room,” Trump said in a Fox News interview. “You have to be a leader. The president has to lead. He has to get (the Speaker of the House) and everybody else in a room, and they have to make a deal.”
It’s a safe bet that Trump’s views on presidential responsibilities for shutdowns have evolved since then. This is the second shutdown during Trump’s two administrations.
In truth, the blame for the shutdown belongs not only to the president, but the Senate and the House where partisan gridlock threatens to hurt millions of Americans.
We urge everyone to call our Senators and Representatives and demand that they reach a deal and restore government operations.
Nobody wins and everybody loses when the government shuts down.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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