President Signs Bill Averting a Federal Government Shutdown

Medicare

Like Social Security, Medicare services would largely continue as normal. Enrollees could still go to the doctor or hospital and get their drug prescriptions filled. Depending on how long a shutdown lasts, medical providers could see a lag in their payments.

If you want to enroll in Medicare during the shutdown, you could still go to ssa.gov and fill out an application. The Medicare hotline (800-633-4227) would continue to operate.

One service that wouldn’t be available during a shutdown is getting a replacement Medicare card. Those are generated by the Social Security Administration, which says it wouldn’t issue replacement Medicare cards during a shutdown.

Mail delivery

Letters and packages would be delivered as usual, and post office branches would remain open. The U.S. Postal Service is an independent agency and because it does not depend on the federal budget for its funding, it wouldn’t be affected by a shutdown.

Veterans

Most government services for military veterans and their families would continue during a shutdown, including within the Veterans Health Administration. VA hospitals would remain open and fully staffed. The Tricare health insurance program would continue to operate as usual. Veterans would still get their pension benefits and claims would continue to be processed. Burials would continue at national cemeteries.

Transportation

Air travel: Commercial flights would continue as usual. Air traffic controllers and airport security screeners are considered essential workers, so they would remain on the job. However, if you’re traveling by plane, you would want to get to the airport a little earlier than usual. During the partial government shutdown in 2018–2019, security lines at some airports were longer than usual because many TSA screeners, who like other essential federal workers were required to work without being paid, called in sick.

Train travel: Amtrak trains would keep running as usual. Although federally owned, Amtrak is chartered as a private corporation and not subject to a government shutdown. During the 2018–2019 shutdown, Amtrak service was not impacted.

Passports: The State Department would continue to issue and renew passports and visas. Routine passport applications can be completed at most post offices, which would remain open during a government shutdown. However, some passport offices located in federal buildings may be closed, so it would be a good idea to check before going to one.

Food safety

Meat, poultry, eggs and various species of catfish that are processed at nearly 7,000 commercial facilities in the U.S. would continue to be inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). It’s not clear yet how other food-processing facilities — such as cereal makers, ice cream plants and cheese factories — would be affected. During the 2018–2019 shutdown, routine U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections were initially stopped. Some were later restored.

Drug safety

The FDA would continue to approve drugs, inspect drug-manufacturing facilities and regulate tobacco products, as these functions are paid for by user fees. They would also continue to address imminent threats to human health or life including outbreaks of food-borne illness or infectious diseases, product recalls and drug shortages. 

Nutrition

USDA, which runs the federal food assistance programs for lower-income families, has said that these benefits “will continue to the extent that funds … are available to support those programs.” This includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In previous shutdowns, that has meant that benefits go out as usual during the first month, but if the government remains unfunded after 30 days, recipients could see benefit delays.

National parks and monuments

National Park Service officials have not updated their contingency plans for a government shutdown. During the 2018–2019 shutdown, most of the parks remained open but with very limited services and staffing. While visitors were able to visit many of the parks and landmarks during that shutdown, parks employees were furloughed so visitors faced mounting trash and uncleaned restrooms. 

The Smithsonian Institution

The various Smithsonian facilities use a combination of government and private funding to pay for operation of museums and activities. The agency has said that when those funds run out, the institution’s contingency plans would allow only those employees protecting life and property or engaging in shutdown operations or management to continue to work. Most of the institution's security, cleaning, maintenance and support staffs are funded with federal funds, and the institution would shut down its facilities to the public. In Washington, the Smithsonian operates 21 museums and the National Zoo.

The Smithsonian adopted a similar strategy in 2019, with prior-year funds used to keep facilities open for 11 days after the shutdown began. It gets about 62 percent of its funding from the U.S. government. 

Randy Lilleston, Andy Markowitz and Peter Urban contributed to this article.