How long will it take to go back to normal?published at 03:37 GMT
With the government reopened, some federal employees and contractors are expected to return to work as soon as Thursday morning. However, the full impact of the 43-day long closures is still expected to affect Americans for weeks.
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, 670,000 government workers were furloughed during the shutdown. Another 730,000 were required to continue working without pay. Now that the shutdown is over, they can expect to receive cheques in the coming days and those who weren’t working can go back to the office.
National Parks, forests, landmarks and other properties managed by the federal government will also reopen to the public, with staff returning to their normal duties. It is unclear exactly when they will reopen, but for reference it took the Smithsonian museums four days to reopen following the last shutdown.
Snap benefits, also known as food stamps, are expected to be immediately made fully available, providing food aid to around 42 million people.
Some federal programmes will take longer to rebound.
Liheap, a
heating subsidy programme used by around 6 million low income households, won’t
be available for weeks, coming just as the winter months are arriving. Head
Start, an early childhood education programme, also could take weeks to resume.
US airports will return to normal operations, but it could take some time. It comes after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a reduction in flights at 40 of the country’s largest airports, due to air traffic controllers calling out of work rather than working without pay.
