Jill Schlesinger

Once again, the U.S. government has shut down (since 1976, there have been 20). Beyond shuttered national parks and museums, there are plenty of direct and indirect financial consequences.

Here are the questions that I have been fielding:

How will most Americans experience the shutdown?

Federal workers will bear the brunt of the stalemate. During the 2018-19 shutdown, which lasted 34 days, nearly 800,000 federal employees were either furloughed or were forced to work without pay. Additionally, active-duty military personnel will likely forego pay during a shutdown.

This time around, the OMB has threatened mass firing of federal workers, which would increase the numbers. All government and military workers’ wages will eventually have to be repaid when the government

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