WASHINGTON–After months of counting down the days, effective at 12:01 a.m. Congress was unable to reach a deal to fund the federal government beyond midnight, leading to shutdown that ultimately could affect hundreds of thousands of credit union members.
As the CU Daily has reported, credit unions over the last few weeks have been announcing special loan programs and other assistance to members who will be losing their paychecks.
Congress remains at an impasse, with Democrats insisting they will not vote on the federal funding without funding being included for health care, although several Democrats have crossed the aisle and voted for a Republican-backed continuing resolution to keep the government operating. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has voted against the funding measures. Sixty votes are needed for passage of any resolution.
The impasse marks the first government shutdown since 2019, when portions of the federal government were shuttered for 35 days. Unlike prior closures, the Trump administration has threatened “mass firings,” and the president in recent days remarked that he could use the shutdown to “get rid of a lot of things.”
Most Affected Departments
The departments that will be seeing the largest number of planned furloughs include Commerce (34,711 employees), the State Department (16,651) and EPA (13,432), according to a New York Times analysis. Approximately 750,000 federal have been furloughted in total.
Shortly after the Senate failed to pass a measure to fund the federal government, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget issued a memo directing executive branch agencies to “execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.”
Sen. John Barasso (R-WY), said the Senate would vote again today on the temporary funding measure.
America’s CUs Issues Statement
“America’s Credit Unions supports stability of our federal government, and we urge Congress to quickly come to a resolution to restore functions as soon as possible,” ACU President and CEO Jim Nussle said in a statement. “With the added potential for permanent job losses as a result of this shutdown, we are closely monitoring how it will impact credit unions, their 144 million members, and the communities they serve. While this is not the outcome we were hoping for, credit unions have been preparing to support members affected by the shutdown. Credit unions will do whatever they can to help people through this financial uncertainty just as they always have.”
Help From the Trade Groups
The credit union trade groups are offering resources to credit unions:
- America’s Credit Unions has related resources available here.
- The Defense Credit Union Council has related resources available here.
