The federal government is on the brink of a shutdown — and the blame for this unexpected turn of events falls squarely on Republicans, in particular Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Earlier this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson negotiated a deal with Democrats that would keep the government funded for three months and pay for a host of programs that would lower prescription drug costs, fund childhood cancer research, invest in early detection for breast and cervical cancer and remove hidden costs from hotel and ticket charges. Then, Musk posted dozens of tweets blasting the deal. Later, the president-elect chimed in to badmouth the agreement — and suddenly House Republicans couldn’t run away from the deal fast enough.
Not surprisingly, the plutocrats and politicians responsible for this shutdown won’t pay the price. Instead, that burden will be borne by the American people.
Many Republicans seem to believe that temporarily shuttering the government is a consequence-free activity. Musk has said that “‘shutting down’ the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill.”
Last time I checked most Americans can’t pay their mortgage or rent retroactively.
Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk’s partner at the glorified advisory committee known as the “Department of Government Efficiency,” says Johnson’s proposed bill “will end up hurting many of the people it purports to help.” According to GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, taking a break from demonizing trans people, “if there is no plan, let the September CR lapse and let’s reset Jan. 20th … It’s not the scary shutdown the lying media tells you it is.”
When Mace heads to the airport to go home for the Christmas holiday, she should ask the TSA officers responsible for making sure that her flight is safe whether it’s scary for them not to receive a paycheck later this month — even though, as essential employees, they still are supposed to report to work.
It’s true that government employees are paid retroactively after a government shutdown ends — but last time I checked most Americans can’t pay their mortgage or rent retroactively. And while credit card companies generally don’t mind letting their customers pay their monthly bills long after they’re due, that’s because they get to hit them with exorbitant interest rates and late fees.
If TSA workers or air traffic controllers decide to stay home rather than work without pay, all of us will pay the price in longer airport waits and greater flight delays.
It’s not just TSA employees who will pay the price for a government shutdown. Active duty service members won’t get paid. Social Security checks will still get sent out, but the 60,000 employees of the Social Security Administration will likely get furloughed — which means Social Security recipients who need help will face longer wait times.
A previous federal shutdown in 2013 closed national parks across the country, leading to a half a billion dollars in lost visitor spending. This time, some parks might remain open, but the federal employees who work there — and will likely get furloughed — won’t get a paycheck either.
Want to buy a house? There’s a good chance your mortgage application will be delayed.
A government shutdown could also mean families losing access to the Head Start program, which provides child care. The same goes for those who receive food aid under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, better known as WIC.
Small businesses waiting on loans from the federal government will have to wait longer (the 2018-19 shutdown delayed more than $2 billion in Small Business Administration loans). What about a small business that relies on government contracts? They might have to wait weeks to get paid and, in the meantime, be forced to lay off staff, as they wait for House Republicans to do their jobs.
Want to buy a house? There’s a good chance your mortgage application will be delayed. Delays at the border because of staffing shortages could lead to higher transit costs. Guess who those costs will be passed on to? (Hint: not Musk or Ramaswamy). Oh, and it bears noting that if the government shuts down, it means that the people in North Carolina and elsewhere waiting for disaster aid will have to keep waiting. It’s certainly true that many Americans will hardly notice these inconveniences — but it all adds up after a while, and the costs will be far greater the longer the shutdown goes on. The five-week partial government shutdown in 2018-19 lowered economic output by $11 billion — and that included $3 billion that the economy never regained. Moody’s has estimated that a shutdown in 2013 reduced economic growth by $20 billion. A 2019 report by a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee found that three shutdowns in fiscal years 2014, 2018 and 2019, which lasted a combined two months, cost the federal government 56,938 years in lost worker productivity. The constant brinkmanship over the budget and the debt limit led the ratings agency Fitch to downgrade the U.S. government’s credit rating in 2023 — a move also taken by Standard & Poor, in 2011. The bottom line is that government shutdowns cost taxpayer dollars, hurt federal government employees, undercut entrepreneurs, leave the most vulnerable Americans … more vulnerable, and turn America into a global laughingstock. But why should Trump, Musk, Ramaswamy or House Republicans care? They are all well-insulated from the havoc they’ve created. It’s the rest of us who will pay the price.
Michael Cohen is an MSNBC columnist. He is also the publisher of the newsletter Truth and Consequences and hosts the weekly podcast That ‘70s Movie Podcast. 
