Congress return after Labour Day. With it, Americans' fears of a government shutdown - USA Trending Blog
Congress return after Labour Day. With it, Americans' fears of a government shutdown - USA Trending Blog
Ericka Goff hears the rumblings about a possible federal government shutdown this fall and prays it doesn’t happen.
Goff, a receptionist in Columbus, Ohio, is a single mother with three children. She depends on the $600 monthly government child care assistance she receives to help make ends meet. The funding is set to expire at the end of September unless Congress extends it.
Without the money, Goff won’t be able to afford to child care. And without child care, she won’t be able to work and support her family.
“We’re barely surviving out here, and the government wants to take that funding and then shut down the government?” she said. “How are we going to live?”
Across the country, Americans are growing increasingly anxious about the possibility of another government shutdown, according to the results of a poll released Thursday.
Seven of 10 voters polled said they were concerned there will be a shutdown because Congress will be unable to reach an agreement on a new budget before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. The poll was done for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan organization focused on addressing the country’s fiscal challenges.
A government shutdown could affect Americans in many ways because all but “essential” federal agencies would close their doors. The mail would still arrive, and Social Security recipients would still get their
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But most federal employees would be furloughed, national parks could turn away visitors, air travel could be delayed, and programs such as food assistance benefits could take longer to process.Nearly 8 of 10 voters in the poll said a shutdown should be avoided because it harms the economy, and 7 of 10 said a shutdown would distract from the country’s larger fiscal challenges.
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