The US shutdown is over. What happens now?
Despite efforts by the Trump administration to force them to use emergency funds to pay for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during the shutdown, a spokesperson for the White House budget office insisted this week that beneficiaries would see their accounts fully restored within hours of the federal government reopening.
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Nearly one in eight Americans (42 million people) rely on SNAP benefits to buy food.
When will air travel return to normal?
Airline industry representatives estimate it will take about a week for air travel to return to normal following the shutdown. But to meet this schedule, a few things need to happen.
The Department for Transport must find that air traffic controllers are returning to work in sufficient numbers and that the threat of staffing (enforced delays when facilities are understaffed) is minimal.
Duffy must then lift mandatory flight restrictions at 40 airports, which began last Friday and are expected to expand in the coming days.
Travelers wait in line at a Texas airport after airlines canceled flights.Credit: Bloomberg
On Wednesday night (Thursday AEDT) as the House voted on legislation to end the closure, Duffy and the FAA administrator said the agency would continue to restrict 6 percent of flights at those airports until further notice.
But officials hope operations will pick up in time due to increased Thanksgiving travel density the weekend before the holiday.
When will economic data be announced?
The government shutdown shut down statistical agencies that produce data on employment, inflation, consumer spending and other aspects of the economy, leaving policymakers flying blind at a critical moment for the economy. This fog will begin to clear when the government reopens, but only gradually. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will likely be able to release labor market data starting in September within a few days of the government reopening. Other reports for September, such as retail sales data, may also be released relatively quickly.
Volunteers hold boxes of food before loading them into cars of furloughed federal employees at the Capital Area Food Bank distribution facility in Alexandria, Virginia.Credit: Bloomberg
But statistical agencies had to pause collecting new data during the lockdown, meaning they had no information about what happened in October. Collecting this data will take time and may be impossible in some cases. While the White House recently suggested that it does not expect the Labor Statistics Bureau to release a consumer price index report for October, some private sector economists argue a report is still possible.
Even when data is released, some may contain an asterisk. Many government statistics are based on surveys of households and businesses; When these surveys are delayed, there is a risk that people may not remember exactly what they did during the relevant period.
When will the museums and the National Zoo open?
While national parks have generally remained open with reduced services during the shutdown, the Smithsonian network of museums, including Washington D.C.’s National Zoo, closed to the public just days after the government shutdown. Representatives of museums and zoos did not immediately provide guidance on how long it would take for their doors to open to the public after Congress restores federal government funding, but noted they would post a reopening schedule on their websites.
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The final closure may be a guide. On January 25, 2019, Trump signed a bill reopening the federal government after a shutdown that lasted more than 34 days. The Smithsonian museums and the zoo reopened to the public four days later.
When will early childhood programs come back online?
Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association, said it could take up to two weeks for the 20 Head Start early childhood programs that were forced to temporarily close during the shutdown to come back online. Head Start is a crucial lifeline for hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged families and children.
He said 20 programs serving more than 9,000 children in 17 states and Puerto Rico were temporarily closed due to the shutdown in recent days. It’s unclear how quickly each program will receive the funding it needs to restart. Many Head Start programs that experienced federal funding cuts remained open with money flowing in from other sources, including states.
This article was first published on: New York Times.
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