WASHINGTON– Unless a last-minute deal is reached, today is the final day the federal government will be open and tens of thousands of federal government employees—and credit union members—will be paid.
As the CU Daily reported here, credit unions have already been announcing various relief and assistance efforts for members should their finances get squeezed.
On Monday, President Trump met with Republican and Democratic leadership in the Senate, with each side dug in and saying they won’t budge. Republicans note that a “clean” continuing resolution has already been passed by the House, while Democrats in the Senate say they won’t agree to any deal that does not include renewed support for Obamacare.
The House is out of session this week and leadership has indicated it sees no reason to call everyone back if a deal isn’t imminent.
Unlike prior shutdowns, the Trump administration has threatened to fire broad numbers of federal employees if Congress can’t reach a deal.
The Bigger Question
The much more-than-$64,000 question, of course, is whether Congress will agree on a funding deal before midnight tonight. Greg Mesack, senior vice president of advocacy with America’s Credit Unions, had said last week that he believes an agreement is unlikely, and during a call with the media on Monday he said he sees nothing to change that forecast.
As the CU Daily has been reporting, in the weeks leading up to the government shutdown both the Defense Credit Union Council and America’s Credit Unions have been urging CUs to prepare and have offered resources here and here.
“We have urged them to talk about potential impacts on them that if this stretches out into weeks, and the possibility of lost paychecks, loan payments, mortgage payments, credit card payments, and other issues,” said Jason Stverak, chief advocacy officer with DCUC.
For credit unions that have questions, the trade group is urging NCUA be contacted, although it’s not known whether the threat of firing federal workers also applies to the agency. The CU Daily has contacted NCUA for comment, but it has declined to respond as of this reporting.
The FAQs
In terms of the questions DCUC has been fielding from credit unions, Stverak said in response to a question from the CU Daily during a media call that credit unions often ask about the status of NCUA, but the most frequent questions are around what to say to members. DCUC instructs them to provide an outline of the resources that are available.
On Friday, DCUC sent a letter to the Hill cautioning Congress that in the event of a shutdown the Coast Guard will lose funding, as it is part of the Department of Homeland Security, not the Defense Department.
Another issue all credit unions should be aware of, Stverak reminded, is that a federal government shutdown means a loss of funding for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which will affect anyone in the process of buying or selling a home (as well as those who have homes protected by the NFIP).
NDAA at a Standstill
And, of course, all the discussion around funding the government pushes back discussions around the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which has passed the House and is now before the Senate. Credit unions continue to warily eye the NDAA to ensure it doesn’t include any amendments or language that CUs oppose.
