cybersandwich , 4 hours ago

When the “government shuts down” the elected officials still all work.

Even some federal employees still work. There are core essential functions that have to continue or people may die, government property may be destroyed, etc. Those people all work–without any support staff.

They just won’t receive a paycheck until the shutdown is over.

The military continues to work. Federal law enforcement continues to work.

The reality of a government shutdown is that it’s actually very expensive and almost entirely performative (from the politicians perspective). Nothing good comes from it. It’s literally one of congress’s only jobs-- so they just look more incompetent than usual.

The federal agencies spend a lot of time and effort preparing for possible shutdowns that usually get averted at the 11th hour. When they don’t it’s incredibly expensive to deal with the impacts of delayed programs and contract issues, handling leave/time off during that timeframe etc.

Another impact is that it can drive top talent away from the government (potentially by design from certain political dispositions). Would you work somewhere that doesn’t pay you or delays paychecks?

That said, I don’t thing government employees have officially missed a pay check yet though. Like I said it’s all bullshit. They get to the brink then “figure it out”. The one a few years ago was the closest people got to missing paychecks. The solved it the day before the official pay date.