Shutdown taking heavy financial, personal toll nationwide

On a cold, windy day outside a church in Queens, New York, people stood in line — some with carts to carry goods, others wearing sunglasses and masks, embarrassed to be recognized as local and national media flooded the street.

The line on Oct 28 was for federal workers seeking assistance from a food bank. Nothing fancy — just produce such as peppers, onions, cucumbers and carrots.

Among them was Jacquelin, who said the shutdown had a great impact on her and her family. She said she had been asked to increase productivity, "much higher than it was before", and work more hours without extra pay.

Jacquelin became emotional and choked up several times while speaking to China Daily about the financial burden her family is facing.

"Not being able to celebrate my daughter's birthday or postponing celebrating Halloween, maybe Thanksgiving or Christmas," she said, her voice breaking.

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"It's very heartbreaking. Having to explain to your child, we don't have money to maybe go and get you a slice of pizza … or not buy the things that you need to eat, that you used to eat at home," she said.

The United States federal government shut down on Oct 1 after a standoff over funding for healthcare and other policy priorities. Negotiations have since stalled, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers like Jacquelin in limbo.

About 1.4 million federal employees are currently not receiving pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. At least 670,000 workers have gone on furlough, while roughly 730,000 continue to work without pay.

Christina Dechabert, a Transportation Security Administration employee at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, said "it's draining" to keep working without getting paid.

She said she had to visit the food bank for her family to survive. Dechabert said she only visited food banks during times of crises, with the last time in 2018 during the 35-day government shutdown during the first Trump administration.

She said it was a little bit easier compared with this shutdown, as things are more expensive now.

"Our savings are supposed to be for when you turn 65, 70, and you're able to fall back on something and enjoy retirement," Dechabert said. "Right now, you can't enjoy anything because we have to stand in lines to get food so we can provide for our families," she added.

A woman in the line who asked to remain anonymous said she was currently on furlough. "We are being held as collateral damage in the process, and it's just not fair," she said.

The food lines are not restricted to New York. Across the US, federal workers are facing similar food insecurity.

In Washington, DC, on Oct 24, lines of vehicles stretched as far as the eye could see even before a food distribution event for federal workers started.

Snap attack

The sudden cutting off of monthly benefits through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is also driving the formation of long lines at food banks across the US.

"As the government shutdown continues, Food Bank for NYC is not only concerned about the impact paycheck disruptions are having on federal workers, but we're also extremely troubled by the withholding of November SNAP benefits, which has never happened in this country," said Zac Hall, senior vice-president of programs at the food bank.

The US Department of Agriculture announced that SNAP benefits, which more than 40 million Americans rely on, roughly one in eight, wouldn't be distributed on Nov 1. "This crisis will further deepen food insecurity," Hall said.

The USDA said in a statement: "We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance."

Dozens of states, including California, Massachusetts, and New York, have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration over the SNAP cut, highlighting the tension between federal and state governments, as well as the growing partisan rift as millions face the combined pressures of unpaid wages and food insecurity.

Two federal judges ruled on Friday the Trump administration must continue to fund SNAP amid the shutdown.

"This isn't politics, it's people. We urge Congress and the USDA to ensure benefits are fully funded and uninterrupted," said Nicole Hunt, director of public policy and advocacy at the Food Bank For New York City.

The Trump administration announced on Monday that it will partially fund SNAP, as the shutdown entered its 34th day, Xinhua News Agency reported.

President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday that he did not want Americans to go hungry because the "Radical Democrats" refuse to do the right thing and reopen the government. "Therefore, I have instructed our lawyers to ask the court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible," he said.

The USDA said in a court filing on Monday that a total of $4.65 billion in a contingency fund will be used for November SNAP benefits, which could cover 50 percent of eligible households' current allotments.

Permanent loss

While the SNAP dispute highlights the human and political stakes, the shutdown is also exacting a measurable toll on the US economy.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warned on Oct 29 that the US economy is poised to suffer significant damage from the ongoing government shutdown. The agency estimated a permanent loss of $7 billion in economic output if the shutdown ends soon. If it extends six weeks, through to Nov 12, losses could reach $11 billion. An eight-week shutdown until Nov 26 would bring the total to about $14 billion.

The shutdown's economic impact is compounded by interruptions to federal operations. A shutdown disrupts federal administrative services by furloughing large numbers of employees and halting nonessential operations.

Among the services affected are the processing of new Social Security card applications, certain student loan functions, Internal Revenue Service forms, and Freedom of Information Act requests.

The travel industry is also feeling the strain. Sixty percent of Americans said they would cancel or avoid trips in the event of a shutdown — a decision that might be prudent, given that travel has become increasingly difficult — according to the US Travel Association. National parks are facing partial closures and limited access, while airports are reporting mounting delays caused by staffing shortages.

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, average delays have reached 90 minutes. Orlando International Airport reported average delays of two-and-a-half hours. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a labor union and aviation safety organization, said many of its members have taken second jobs to support their families during the shutdown.

Federal employees who have continued working during the shutdown will eventually receive back pay once the government reopens. But the law offers no such protection for government contractors.

According to the US Chamber of Commerce, roughly 65,500 businesses hold contracts with the federal government — providing everything from high-tech equipment to office supplies and landscaping services. Those firms are collectively losing an estimated $3 billion each week. With the shutdown now stretching beyond four weeks, total losses have climbed to about $12 billion.

'Disproportionate harm'

Aaron Pacitti, a professor of economics at New York's Siena University, believes the economic impact of the government shutdown is relatively small.

"In a $30 trillion economy, a couple of billion dollars of losses might sound big in the grand scheme of things, but it's an exceptionally small overall percentage," he said. "The estimate is that for every 2.5 months the government is shut down, it subtracts one percentage point from GDP gross."

"Those furloughed government workers, they are not getting that money back. That's where the permanent loss happens," he said.

Even though the shutdown may not significantly affect the US economy as a whole, Pacitti said it disproportionately harms lower-income working class people, who he estimates make up 10 to 15 percent of the population.

He said one of the reasons the shutdown occurred was that there was a disagreement about the subsidies for buying health insurance through the Affordable Care Act that had expired.

Low-income individuals relying on the Affordable Care Act for healthcare "are going to find that their premiums are going to double", he said. "So even though the shutdown as a whole is going to have a relatively small effect on the economy, it's going to hurt the lowest-income Americans the hardest."

Pacitti also said it's unfortunate government shutdowns are becoming a "normalized" part of how the US government operates. He said this is going to start eroding the credibility of the US political system. "I think this is part of a broader political story of the US political system starting to crumble and become less reliable," he said.

Glimmer of hope

Those warnings of political erosion are mirrored in the current deadlock in Washington. Negotiations between the parties remain stalled. The Senate adjourned on Oct 30 and reconvened on Nov 3, extending the shutdown to at least 34 days — tying the record for the longest in US history, set in 2018 during President Trump's first term.

The first glimmer of hope about ending the shutdown was seen in the US Capitol on Monday, as leading Senate Republicans and Democrats talked of a possible "off-ramp" to the disruption.

"I'm optimistic," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, told reporters when asked about prospects for ending the government shutdown, Reuters reported.

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"Based on, sort of, my gut of how these things operate, I think we're getting close to an off-ramp here," Thune said.

The No 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said, "I sense that, too." But he quickly added: "We're still stuck with this premise of what we're going to do about healthcare costs."

Pacitti's analysis of a fraying political system and widening inequality felt far removed from the church line in Queens. Yet for those waiting for food, his words rang true: the cost of Washington's stalemate was being paid most dearly by those with the least to spare.

Back in Queens, Jacquelin who refused to identify herself waited quietly in line in her black wool coat.

She said she didn't know how long the shutdown would last. "I've called Trader Joe's (grocery stores) and places … No one is doing anything about it yet," she said. "I'm grateful that this is the start of something to help people."

Contact the writers at bilinlin@chinadailyusa.com