Some history
There have been 12 shutdowns since 1981, ranging in duration from a single day to 21 days, according to the Congressional Research Service. The last shutdown happened in 2013 and lasted 16 days.
Nearly 800,000 federal employees were out of work without pay. In addition, more than a million other working employees had their paychecks delayed. On day five of the shutdown, Congress voted to give the furloughed government employees retroactive pay.
Meanwhile, some members of Congress kept collecting their paychecks, while others voluntarily gave up their checks. According to estimates by the financial services company Standards & Poor’s, the last government shutdown cost America $24 billion, or $1.5 billion a day.
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All active duty (and reserve components on federal active duty) continue to work during a shutdown. Civilian personnel with the Department of the Defense who are deemed essential to "excepted" activities will also continue to work. However, both groups would not be paid until after the shutdown ends.
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Non-essential Department of Defense civilian employees will be furloughed. During the 2013 shutdown, 400,000 of the department's 800,000 civilian workers were furloughed without pay, though they were later repaid after the shutdown.
Government contracts that were fully funded prior to the shutdown will continue, but new contracts (including renewals or extensions) will be halted.
Additionally, families will not receive the $100,000 death benefit provided for fallen service members. That money can cover funeral costs and family travel. It also helps to bridge the sudden halt of once-regular paychecks that the deceased was receiving -- paychecks that end immediately after the individual is killed.
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