Government shutdown enters day 13, WKU professor shares possible impacts

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – We’re now on day 13 of the government shutdown, with no end in sight.

News 40 spoke with a political science professor to break down how the shutdown is impacting day-to-day life for Americans.

According to political experts, when the government shuts down, typically, people don’t get fired from their federal jobs. However, they are often furloughed, meaning you don’t come to work, and you don’t receive compensation, or you go to work, and you get paid.

Whether you’re an essential worker or not, there’s a lot to lose for federal employees.

Dustin Pugel, policy director at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, says, “Other parts of this shutdown, though, impact services that the federal government combines, there’s a lot of folks who are going to lose income. There are tens of thousands of federal employees here in Kentucky. And so, you know, those are people who are going to have a harder time making ends meet.”

While federal employees are being directly impacted, regular civilians could also be experiencing issues when it comes to traveling or even receiving financial support.

Dr. Jeff Budziak, professor of political science at WKU, said, “Well, those things may feel invisible to you or the kind of things that you are there and you see them, but you don’t think about every day those things are going on in the background of your everyday life. And sometimes we don’t appreciate those things until we have them taken away or they’re disrupted in some way.”

Budziak also shares you can feel the effects no matter where you work, and if a decision isn’t made, several forms of funding could be negatively affected.

“We’re also hearing that with the program that provides formula and other types of foods to women, infants and children may run out of money in the coming weeks,” Budziak said Friday afternoon.

On Friday evening, the Associated Press reported that the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC program, “received a $300 million infusion from the Trump administration this week, alleviating some anxiety that it would run out of money during the government shutdown.”

News 40 will continue to provide the latest information as it is released.