MILWAUKEE — The United States government officially shut down early Wednesday. In Milwaukee, local residents and a political science professor weigh in on what this could mean for Wisconsinites.
“Pay attention. This is important stuff going on in our country right now,” said Milwaukee resident Anne Landre.
Philip Rocco, an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Marquette University, says the U.S. is in a unique position globally when it comes to shutdowns.
Watch: What does a government shutdown look like for Wisconsinites?
“The U.S. is pretty singular. Very few countries have government shutdowns,” said Rocco.
The last time the United States government shut down was during President Trump’s first term. It started in December 2018 and lasted 35 days—the longest in history.
Wisconsin currently has about 18,000 federal civilian employees.
Rocco says many of them will be furloughed without pay, and billions of dollars worth of federal government contracts are on the line.
Longtime Milwaukee residents Charlie Dee and his wife say it’s hard to see how this will impact the people in their lives.
“I know some federal workers and people who have been working on federal grants, doing scientific research, for example, and they have been totally insecure now for nine months, and this is more insecurity,” said Dee. “I don't know how one can concentrate on their job when they don't know whether or not they're going to be given a pink slip the next day.”
The full effects of a shutdown are difficult to predict in the beginning.
“What matters for how the shutdown affects the economy and how government functions is how long the shutdown goes on, which is really affected by the politics and how dug in the two sides are,” said Rocco.
But Rocco says, regardless of the shutdown, your mail will still be delivered, Social Security checks will still go out, and for now, SNAP benefits or food stamps will also continue.
