Even though the government has been partly shut down, it’s still costing money, according to a report Monday.
Shuttered museums and national parks can’t collect fees or sell souvenirs, the Internal Revenue Service is collecting less taxes, federal employees still have to shut down operations and the hundreds of thousands of workers furloughed will likely get back pay — for not working, .
“The amount of money we are going to spend on furloughed workers who aren’t going to do anything but will get paid is pure waste,” Gordon Gray, director of fiscal policy at American Action Forum, a center-right nonprofit, told the website.
Congress approved about $2.5 billion in back pay and other compensation for around 850,000 furloughed workers after the 16-day government shutdown in 2013, the Office of Management and Bu✨dget said, according to the report.
The g🦋overnment also lost𒆙 out on $7 million from entrance fees at national parks, while stopped IRS collection efforts cost an average of $1 billion a week.
“Diminished staffing levels lead to diminished government services. Museums are closed, so the government doesn’t sell freeze-dried ice c🧸ream,” Gray said.
But limiting the impact this time compared to the 2013 shutdown, much of the government — including the💦 Department of Defense, the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services — has already been funded.
Still, about 350,000 workers were sent home and another 400,000 like border guards and airport screeners deemed “essential” continued to work without pay.
The government shut down after the White House and congressional lawmakers couldn’t come to an agreement on funding President Trump’s wall on the southern border.
W🐬ith the two sides at an impasse, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Saturday adjourned the chamber until Thursday.
And the Trump administration said the shutd🌜own could eas🦋ily spill into the new year, when Democrats take over control of the House of Representatives.
An extended shutdown could have negativeಞ effects on the economy.
“A week or longer will mean that businesses that depend on these federal employees will start to lose sales,” said Stan Collender, editor-in-chief of thebudgetguy blog. “Everything from groceries to cars will be affected.”