US federal agencies had to cease their operations after the Congress failed to pass a bipartisan budget deal. This is the second time within three weeks that US government agencies had to put their work on a halt as a result of the disagreement over the budget deal. On January 18, the funding proposal to avert a government shutdown failed in the Senate.

Twitter users have rushed to the social media platform in order to comment on the second US government shutdown, with many commenting on the move by Republican Senator Rand Paul, who demanded a vote on an amendment to the spending bill that would keep caps on federal spending, which is expected to rise by a total of $300 billion over two years.

READ MORE: 'Risky Territory Here': US Gov't Shuts Down Again as Congress Misses Deadline

Many Netizens have criticized the Republicans and the US president over the second shutdown since Donald Trump had assumed office.

Some have pointed to the different media coverage by US media outlets.

Other Twitter users, however, seemed to find the fun side in the development. </s> On Friday, the federal government will partially shut down, unless Congress passes last-minute funding measures. Many Americans worry the Christmastime shutdown will be as devastating as a stocking full of coal — but the shutdown might not be so bad after all.

The U.S. government has shut down numerous times over the past 50 years, and the impact has been as small as the “Whos” in “Whoville.” In fact, since 1976, there have been 19 government shutdowns, and the longest shutdown (December 1995) only lasted 21 days.

Of course, according to many in the mainstream media, a government shutdown, like the Grinch, will bring utter devastation to the country (and ruin Christmas). History has clearly shown, however, that this isn’t the case.

Here are some of the most common myths about what will happen if the government shuts down.

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There is simply no truth to this claim. Social Security, like Medicare, is a mandatory spending program, which means that Social Security payments would be 100 percent unaffected by a partial government shutdown. All 62 million Americans receiving Social Security benefits will still get their checks in the mail, regardless of what happens with Congress and President Donald Trump.

This has been the case for literally every single government shutdown in modern history.

MYTH: All federal agencies will be affected.

Because Congress has already allocated funds for three-fourths of the federal discretionary budget for 2019, the pending partial shutdown would only impact a limited number of government services. Agencies that would be affected include those under the Departments of Homeland Security, State, and Treasury — and a partial shutdown would not cut all funding for these agencies, either. Most agencies have already been funded and will not be impacted by the shutdown. This includes the Departments of Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Labor, among others.

MYTH: All government employees will not be paid.

There are two million federal employees in the United States, not including the U.S. military. About 1.2 million employees work at agencies that have been fully funded for 2019, which means these 1.2 million government workers have nothing to worry about if the pending partial shutdown takes place. Of the remaining 800,000 Americans employed by the national government, only about 350,000 are considered “non-essential” and could be furloughed in the event of a government shutdown. Although that may seem dire to some, the furlough often ends up being more like a paid vacation.

In the past, Congress has passed legislation to retroactively compensate all federal employees that were furloughed during shutdowns.

MYTH: The United States would default on its debt payments.

The federal shutdown only impacts discretionary spending, not interest payments on behalf of the U.S. government to foreign and domestic debtholders. The U.S. government would only default on its debt payments if the debt ceiling was not raised to accommodate the national debt. Currently, the debt ceiling has been suspended until March 1, 2019. In essence, federal spending cannot be impeded until that date.

MYTH: National parks and monuments will be closed.

Unless the Trump administration takes a page out of the Obama administration’s government-shutdown playbook and unnecessarily closes national parks and monuments to the public, odds are that these national treasures will stay open. The only caveat is that the visitor centers might not be open and park rangers might not be around to help visitors.

The pending government shutdown might not seem all that bad once you know the facts, but the truth is that a shutdown shouldn’t happen at all. The shutdown is a symptom of a much larger problem: a broken federal budgeting system. Until that problem is fixed, expect more government shutdown myths in the future.

Chris Talgo is an editor at The Heartland Institute. Emma Kaden is an intern at The Heartland Institute.

The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards. </s> WASHINGTON, D.C. - America is in the midst of a partial government shutdown in the middle of holiday season, because a funding bill hasn’t passed.

President Donald Trump wants Democrats in the Senate to approve his $5.7 billion demand for U.S.-Mexico border wall money. However, Democrats are unwilling to endorse it.

Wondering what happens during a partial shutdown? Here’s what you should know.

[RELATED: Partial government shutdown in effect after lawmakers fail to reach deal]

A government shutdown happens when Congress does not pass funding bills or the president fails to sign them before the previous appropriations run out.

However, the nation currently is headed toward a partial shutdown since Congress has already funded about 75 percent of the federal government through September 2019.

How long would the shutdown last?

If the funding bill doesn’t pass, the shutdown would start Saturday. It would last until both the House and Senate come to an agreement, and the president signs it.

What departments would be impacted?

Nine out of 15 federal departments will close or reduce operations, according to a fact sheet released by the Democratic staff of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Here’s a list:

What happens to federal employees?

More than 420,000 government workers are expected to work without pay if a partial shutdown occurs, according to the fact sheet.

That would include more than 41,000 federal law enforcement and correctional officers, 88 percent of employees at the Department of Homeland Security and thousands of Customs and Border Protection agents and customs officers.

More than 380,000 federal employees would be placed on furlough, or sent home without pay.

That would include the majority of the staff at NASA, the National Park Service and the Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as about 52,000 IRS workers. </s> US Government shuts down for second time in 2018 as Congress misses deadline

The US Senate has approved a budget deal hours after the Government went into shutdown for the second time this year.

The Senate's passing of the budget and a stopgap funding package means the plan will now go to the House of Representatives, where politicians are divided along party lines and passage was uncertain.

The scrambling to secure a deal comes hours after the federal shutdown began, in an embarrassing setback for the Republican-controlled Congress.

A three-day shutdown of the federal government began last month on the anniversary of the inauguration of Republican President Donald Trump, who played little role in attempts by party leaders earlier this week to head it off and end months of fiscal squabbling.

House Republican leaders had offered assurances that the package would be approved, but so did Senate leaders and the critical midnight deadline, when current government funding authority expired, was still missed.

The reason for that was a nine-hour, on-again, off-again Senate floor speech by Kentucky Republican senator Rand Paul, who objected to deficit spending in the bill.

The unexpected turn of events dragged the Senate proceedings into the wee hours and underscored the persistent inability of Congress and Mr Trump to deal efficiently with Washington's most basic fiscal obligations of keeping the Government open.

The US Office of Personnel Management advised millions of federal employees shortly after midnight to check with their agencies about whether they should report to work on Friday.

If the House acts before daybreak to approve the package from the Senate, there would be no practical interruption in federal government business.

If it does not, the result would be an actual shutdown.

Mr Paul said during his marathon speech, which strained fellow senators' patience, that the two-year budget deal would "loot the Treasury".

The proposed bill would raise military and domestic spending by almost $US300 billion over the next two years.

With no offsets in the form of other spending cuts or new tax revenues, that additional spending would be financed by borrowed money.

The bill is also opposed by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi because Republican House leaders will not guarantee her that they will allow a debate later on about taking steps to protect about 700,000 "Dreamer" immigrants from deportation.

The budget bill would not only stave off a shutdown, but would extend the Government's debt ceiling until March 2019.

That step alone would help reduce uncertainty in the US financial markets. </s> In the wee hours of the morning, the House of Representatives voted to approve a major budget package following a brief, overnight government shutdown.

The $400 billion spending bill was sent to President Trump who signed it Friday morning, ending the brief shutdown.

The budget agreement will set spending for programs for the next two years — if they stick to it. Under the short-term agreement approved early Friday, the government is funded for another six weeks to give lawmakers time to craft a budget plan. If they don't have something long-term in place by then, the country could be in shutdown mode again in March.

The passage of the plan followed a dramatic night on Capitol Hill, where Democrats fought for some sort of promise for protections for Dreamers, the roughly 800,000 immigrants who were illegally brought into the U.S. as minors. Republicans had a problem with the amount of spending.

And while the Senate needed to move fast Thursday night to pass the package, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., effectively delayed the vote until after midnight, causing the government to briefly shut down – for the second time already this year.

Disagreements over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), led to a three-day government shutdown on Jan 20.

Fox News asked Marc Goldwein, senior policy director of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget – a bipartisan, nonprofit organization that educates the public on fiscal policy issues – to explain a government shutdown, and he answered seven basic questions about the process that Americans should know.

A shutdown occurs when Congress and the president fail to sign into law 12 appropriations bills (which determine spending for specific government agencies) in order to continue providing funding for government operations.

How can you prevent a government shutdown?

To avoid a shutdown, members of Congress can give themselves an extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR). The temporary funding measure keeps the federal government open and allows lawmakers more time to negotiate the remaining appropriations bills.

“The bar for a CR is pretty low. You’re not agreeing to anything new politically; it’s a no-brainer,” Goldwein told Fox News.

That’s exactly how the government has been operating since Oct. 1.

Funding has been extended three times since then. The House and Senate approved a temporary spending bill on Jan 22, and Trump signed the measure to keep the government funded through Feb. 8.

How long does a government shutdown last?

As long as it takes. Congressional leaders from both parties have to reach an agreement to fund the government.

It usually takes a weekend for this to happen.

“We’re talking days or weeks – not months,” Goldwein said.

The federal government would be forced to shut down “nonessential services." Who would be affected?

"Essential staff at top level agencies would continue working, but most federal employees whose jobs aren’t vital would likely be sent home," Goldwein said.

For example, those who work at national parks, monuments and museums would be told to go home.

"It doesn’t feel awesome to be told you’re not an essential employee. It's a little demoralizing to go home because you’re not important," Goldwein added.

In the 2013 shutdown, roughly 850,000 employees were furloughed per day, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

But not everyone is required to take unpaid leave.

The president, presidential appointees and members of Congress are exempt. The Postal Service, the TSA and Air Traffic Control will also continue business as usual.

Americans will still be able to get their Social Security and Medicare benefits and food stamps. However, people expecting VA benefits, unemployment benefits, farm subsidies and tax refunds may experience delays.

Do federal employees still get paid?

Most likely. The problem: They're not sure when they'll get their money.

"Everyone loses from the government shutdown. An employee loses their paycheck at the time he or she needs it," Goldwein said. "Ultimately, we’re going to fund it anyway. It’s kind of silly."

Federal employees typically receive back pay shortly upon their return, though, Goldwein says, nothing is certain. Every agency has their own contingency plan in the event of a shutdown.

How many times has the government shut down?

The government has shut down 20 times since 1976, the year Congress introduced the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s research. Half of the shutdowns occurred over a weekend.

“Before 1980, the government didn’t really shut down,” Goldwein explained. “A lot of others were over the course of weekends. I call them ‘fake shutdowns.’”

Goldwein says there have really only been three significant government shutdowns in the history of the U.S.

Two occurred during the Clinton administration in the winter of 1995 to 1996. Former President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress were at odds and shut the government down for a total of 26 days, Goldwein said.

The third occurred during the Obama administration in 2013, when a stalemate between the House and Senate led to a 16-day hiatus.

How much money can the country lose during a shutdown?

The 16-day government shutdown in 2013 cost the country $24 billion of lost economic activity, according to an analysis from ratings agency Standard & Poor's.

"The payroll cost of furloughed employee salaries alone – that is, the lost productivity of furloughed workers – was $2.0 billion," the Office of Management and Budget reported in 2013.

Goldwein says shutdowns "waste money" more than they "cost money."

"We’re not going to spend more money. We’re just going to spend it on worse stuff," he explained. "Instead of paying employees to work, we’re paying them not to work."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> US shutdown begins as Senate fails to pass budget

The US government has begun a federal shutdown after the Senate failed to agree on a new budget, the BBC reported today.

Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the Bill to fund the government until 16 February did not receive the required 60 votes.

It is the first shutdown ever to happen while the same party, the Republicans, controls Congress and the White House.

In response, the White House accused Democrats of holding “lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands”.

“They put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country’s ability to serve all Americans”, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

But Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said President Donald Trump had turned down two bipartisan compromise deals and “did not press his party in Congress”.

It was unclear which way the vote would go as the midnight deadline approached, with Republicans and Democrats split on key issues.

The House of Representatives voted 230-197 on Thursday night to extend funding until next month, but the measure failed to pass the Senate by a margin of 50-49.

Five Republicans voted against the Bill while five Democrats broke ranks to support it.

The last US shutdown happened in 2013 and lasted for 16 days, during which many federal employees took a forced leave of absence.

Many government offices will close as federal law requires agencies to shut down if Congress has not allocated money to fund them. </s> WASHINGTON — The federal government has entered Day 22 of a partial government shutdown, becoming the longest closure in U.S. history.

Nine of the 15 Cabinet-level departments have not been funded. The Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the government’s largest agencies, are the most notable exceptions and continue to operate since they were funded through Sept. 30.

The previous record for the longest shutdown occurred during Bill Clinton’s presidency. That one lasted from December 15, 1995, through January 6, 1996.

The current shutdown appears destined to last at least a few more days, Democratic lawmakers rejecting President Donald Trump’s demands to include $5.7 billion for a border wall in a spending bill.

The shutdown has furloughed 380,000 federal workers and forced an additional 420,000 to work without pay. </s> Congress scrambles to avoid what would be a second government shutdown in three weeks. </s> President Trump ended 2018s second government shutdown by signing a budget plan into law on Feb. 9, 2018.
The United States government runs out of funding for the second time this year, prompting another government shutdown.