The Senate is set to reconvene this afternoon just hours before the midnight deadline for a shutdown of much of the federal government, though Senators are expected to reject the House’s latest funding bill.
The Republican majority passed the measure Sunday morning.
It proposes to keep the government going but only if Congress agrees to delay the Affordable Care Act for one year, and get rid of a tax on medical devices that helps pay for the law.
Much of the new health care law is set to take effect Tuesday, including the opening of insurance exchanges.
Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama have repeatedly said the House bill is a non-starter.
Senators on both sides of the aisle are digging in their heels over the measure.
“You want to debate Obamacare, that’s fine. People have strongly held views on both sides. But to hold hostage Democrats and mainstream Republicans until you get your way and hurt millions of innocent people across America along the way is wrong,” said Senator Charles Schumer.
“Even now what the House of Representatives has done is a step removed from defunding. It’s delaying it. Now that’s the essence of a compromise. For all of us that want to see it repealed, simply delaying it on for American families on the same terms as being done for big corporations. That’s a compromise,” said Senator Ted Cruz on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
If the government shuts down, about 800,000 federal workers would be forced off the job without pay, starting with the military.
Nearly a million and a half active duty personnel would have their paychecks delayed, including those serving overseas.
Close to 400,000 civilian contractors would be furloughed immediately.
Veterans Affairs services would stay open.
Air traffic controllers would remain on the job.
The TSA and the Department of Homeland Security would remain open.
The State Department would continue to process visa and passport applications, and immigration services would continue to handle green card applications.
Federal courts would continue normal operations for 10 days. After that, they would start to furlough non-essential staff.
The Justice Department would keep prosecuting criminal cases.
Social Security and Medicare checks would still go out as would unemployment checks.
Food stamps and school breakfast and lunch would be unaffected.
The Food and Drug Administration would suspend routine safety inspections, except for the highest-risk cases.
The Centers for Disease Control would have to drastically scale back their ability to investigate outbreaks, including the flu virus.
All national parks would close, including the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
The U.S. Postal Service would continue day to day mail delivery.
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via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
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