Editor’s Note: In line with our mission “to inform, educate and encourage active participation by Lewis Clark Valley Democrats and other interested persons”, the NPC Dems Communication Committee will periodically offer analysis of national issues to illustrate their impact on Nez Perce County and the LC Valley. In this first piece of the series, George Grenley looks at what is known and not known about the local impact of the current US Government shutdown.
The government shutdown that began Wednesday is set to furlough food inspectors, park rangers and millions of other federal workers in Washington, DC and across the nation. While all the actions and impacts are not yet visible, we can piece together a picture of what’s already happened and what’s likely to happen.
Services that will continue (probably):
- Mail will be delivered.
- Social Security checks & deposits will arrive.
- Veterans Administration checks and deposits will arrive.
- The IRS and Federal Courts have reserve funds, and may stay open, for at least a week or so. But there has not been an official statement from the government, so we can only guess, based on past closures.
- Food benefits via SNAP and WIC will still happen, at least until the end of October.
- Air Traffic Controllers and TSA personnel will still be on duty – although they will be working without pay. Expect more delays at airports.
- Head Start, for kids, should stay open, at least for a while.
- The Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, is keeping park roads, lookouts, trails and open-air memorials open during the shutdown, in most cases, but not all. The agency is maintaining some law enforcement, fire suppression, emergency response and power maintenance operations at most of the country’s 400-plus national parks while also warning that “only basic or no visitor services” are running.
- The Yellowstone National Park website was updated Wednesday to indicate it will remain open but services will be limited. “National parks remain as accessible as possible during the federal government shutdown. However, some services may be limited or unavailable,” the statement read. Many other parks have similar statements.
- Wildland firefighting and disaster response will continue.
Services that have been or will probably be impacted or stopped:
- Call center response at the IRS, Social Security, and most other agencies will be either terribly slow or non-existent.
- A large percentage of Federal workers will be furloughed without pay. In Idaho, this is around 14,000 people.
- Most National Parks will be unstaffed, but may be physically open.
- Federal museums in Washington D.C. and elsewhere will be closed.
- In some cases, recreation sites on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, BLM, and Army Corps of Engineers have closed. But that has not always been the case, and closures vary by agency.
- In 2013, the BLM closed many of the recreation sites, such as the Pink House Campground, and Boat Ramp near Orofino. Whether they will be closed this time is not known.
- In the December 2018-January 2019 shutdown, federal recreation sites such as parks and boat ramps in the Lewis-Clark Valley operated by the Corps of Engineers remained open, but they may be gated and locked this time.
Why is this happening?
Most Democrats want to preserve funding for health care premium subsidies, and restore Medicaid cuts approved in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Congressional Democratic leaders have said they won’t support a plan that doesn’t extend the health care premium tax credit subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year. These go toward lowering premiums on health insurance purchased through state marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act.
Referring to the cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and many other social programs in the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” recently signed into law, Senator Mike Crapo estimated that it would cost a trillion dollars to restore the programs, and this would “wipe out a vast majority of the savings Republicans have worked diligently to pass since the start of the Congress.” (This is the same bill passed by the Republicans that gave trillions in tax cuts to billionaires.)
The Idaho Democratic Party said in an emailed statement that while Republicans control the House, Senate and White House, the blame lay with the GOP.
“With all that power, they showed they can’t lead and don’t care to. Democrats fought to protect your health care, keep premiums from doubling for more than 100,000 Idahoans, and save our rural hospitals from devastating cuts,” Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea said in the statement. “But Mike Simpson, Russ Fulcher, Jim Risch, and Mike Crapo stood with their party and turned their backs on Idaho families. Because of their choice, thousands of Idahoans will go without pay.”
One other thing…
Construction of the White House ballroom will continue through the government shutdown, according to a White House official.
Sources used to compile this article
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/01/government-shutdown-2025-whats-still-open-00195598
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/01/government-shutdown-affects-agencies-closed-open
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