What happens when the US federal government closes?

 WASHINGTON: Amid a national health crisis, Washington is on fire to avoid a partial government shutdown that could lead to furloughs for thousands of federal workers.

Funding for most federal agencies will expire at midnight on Thursday, leaving the still elusive political deal. The second federal shutdown in three years will halt many government functions.

Museums and national parks will remain closed and three out of five workers - 2.1 million from the federal civilian workforce - will be banned from working, said William Hoagland, a former congressional employee at the Center for Bilateral Policy.

According to the agency's shutdown plan, Furlo could hit 62% of employees at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the agency at the center of America's fight against the Covid-19 epidemic.

How does this affect the Covid-19 response?

Federal workers can stay on the job if staying away puts lives or property at risk. But many will have to work without being paid until funding is approved. And those who have less crucial roles will be fired.

The Department of Health and Human Services Shutdown Plan promises that the CDC will "continue to provide full support" to public health needs. But the budget headache will still be a distraction.

“The agency is definitely going to be operating at low efficiency,” said David Rick, a former congressional employee at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities think tank.

It will come because many public health workers are already under stress. The July CDC survey found high levels of depression, anxiety and other mental health problems among public health workers.

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease officer, told the Washington Post last week that it was a "bad time" to stop the epidemic because the government should make full progress on public health.

How does a shutdown really happen?

Once funding is exhausted, some workers can quickly streamline departmental shutdowns, such as choosing who will get relief from the furlough and adding a shutdown message to government and voicemail emails.

The White House Budget Office said Thursday that agencies are preparing plans that have in the past delayed processing applications for weapons and passports.

Most governments will continue to autopilot, including sending social security pension checks and paying hospital bills for the elderly. Soldiers can still fight the war, but many civilians will be given leave in the defense department.

Eventually, essential services will be affected. "It's a nightmare for management," Hoagland said.

How can a shutdown be avoided, or kept brief?

Congress must pass a spending bill to close or reopen the government. Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would renew government funding, but would include raising limits on federal borrowing.

Republicans have objected to raising the debt limit, and they are expected to block the bill in the Senate as early as Monday.

One way to end the stalemate is for Democrats to remove the debt ceiling from the funding law. It will need to pass quickly through both chambers of Congress to avoid a shutdown.

The last government shutdown ended in January 2019 after 35 days when many air traffic controllers, who were working without pay, were said to be ill, causing flight delays and helping to break the political stalemate over funding legislation.

Hoagland said disruptions to public health agencies in the midst of an epidemic could shorten the closure.

He said, "That image, which is still fighting this Darn virus among us, would argue for a very short stop there."