With most congressional Democrats insisting they would only vote to fund the federal government if the expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies were extended, government offices shut down at midnight Wednesday after Congress was unable to reach a deal.

Home to thousands of active-duty military and veterans, a significant population on food assistance and a major travel hub at Harry Reid International Airport, a government shutdown is expected to take a toll on Nevada — particularly if weeks, or even a month, goes by without a deal.

Some Democratic allies have stressed that fallout from the shutdown will be different from previous shutdowns. Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo — first reported by Politico — imploring federal agencies to use the shutdown as an “opportunity” to consider mass layoffs for federal workers, including those working on projects that are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” 

In previous shutdowns, federal workers were temporarily furloughed and received back pay when the government reopened. Top congressional Democrats have criticized the memo as an attempt to pressure Democrats into supporting a GOP-backed funding extension that protects federal workers from shutdown-related layoffs but does not renew the expiring health care subsidies. 

The subsidies were established by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and provide tax credits on ACA insurance premiums to over 94,000 Nevadans, according to an analysis by the health policy organization KFF, which also found that losing the subsidies could lead to more than 24,000 Nevadans not having health insurance in 2034.

Here is how the shutdown would affect Nevadans.

Travel

Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees are considered essential, and will be expected to work without pay. In previous shutdowns, wait times and delays at airports increased as air traffic controllers called out sick at higher rates than normal.

Air traffic controller training will also be paused, which aviation experts have said could exacerbate an existing shortage of air traffic controllers. 

In 2023, when a government shutdown came perilously close, the Biden administration estimated that Nevada — which has a disproportionately large federal airport workforce — was home to 1,504 TSA officers and air traffic controllers.

Public lands

National parks and other federally managed lands will likely be closed for the duration of the shutdown. 

In the 16-day government shutdown in 2013, all national parks were closed. 

In the 35-day government shutdown in 2018-19, the Trump administration pressured national parks to remain open despite bathrooms being inaccessible and cleanup crews being furloughed. The move led to the buildup of trash and the vandalization of protected spaces, prompting criticism from park advocates and resulting in a citation from the Government Accountability Office.

Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — which manages wide swaths of Nevada’s vast public lands — directed The Indy to a website featuring the shutdown contingency plans of the Department of the Interior, which oversees the bureau.

The National Park Service (NPS) has not updated its contingency plan since March 2024, when it stated that “the majority of National Park sites will be closed completely to public access” during a shutdown.

Of the 16 offices within the Department of the Interior, only one — the Bureau of Reclamation — has posted an updated contingency plan for the shutdown.

Nevada’s Department of Interior-managed areas include the Great Basin National Park, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

A review of the outdated contingency plans posted by other offices showed that employees who work on fire preparedness, wild horse and burro management, law enforcement, energy inspections and emergency services are expected to continue to work. The BLM estimated in its contingency plan from November 2023 that a government shutdown would require furloughing approximately half of its 10,700 employees.

Leases and permits on federally managed land will still apply, though no new special recreation permits or energy leases will be issued for the duration of a shutdown. 

In the previous shutdown, the bureau cautioned that those with existing reservations on public lands should still consult recreation.gov to learn if their reservation will be honored because of staffing levels. Refunds will be made available once the shutdown is over.

Health care

While the federal Department of Health and Human Services will furlough 41 percent of its staff, essential personnel will remain in place to support the delivery of Medicare and Medicaid services. According to the health department, the government has enough money to fund Medicaid through the end of 2025.

While Medicaid and Medicare will have funds, the lack of staff could contribute to some administrative problems, including delays in payments to hospitals and providers. 

Food assistance

Nevadans’ ability to access federal food assistance funds may depend on what program they use. 

For the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, benefits will not be disrupted for at least a month after the shutdown begins. Approximately 1 in every 6 Nevadans receive SNAP benefits.

If the shutdown lasts longer than that, SNAP benefits could become imperiled. A spokesperson for the Nevada Department of Human Services (DHS) told The Indy in a statement that “should the shutdown continue past October, SNAP benefits may be interrupted or delayed” and that the agency was awaiting further guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

USDA did not immediately respond to The Indy’s request for comment on how long SNAP funding will last during a prolonged shutdown. 

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is at greater risk. 

WIC is a food assistance program for low-income mothers who are either pregnant or have children under 5. The benefit cards used by those in the program are loaded with federal money that could run out within a month, and a shutdown means the department cannot deliver new or additional funds. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said in a Fox News interview on Monday that “the WIC program won’t be funded” during a shutdown. 

Nevada DHS told The Indy that the state currently has funding to cover food benefits for WIC recipients until Oct. 10, and that following that date “Nevada WIC will evaluate next steps.”

Data from 2022 shows there are approximately 52,000 Nevadans, including nearly 30,000 children, whose WIC cards will not be funded during a prolonged shutdown. 

Immigration

The Department of Homeland Security announced on its website that it would furlough about 5 percent of the agency’s roughly 272,000 employees but will require the vast majority of officers and employees at Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to continue working without pay.

Military

During a government shutdown, active-duty service members are considered essential employees  and therefore are expected to work without pay. Civilian military employees, on the other hand, will be furloughed. All federal employees, including service members, will continue to receive retirement benefits and will receive back pay once the shutdown ends.

Many civilian employees work on contract management, and with them sidelined, active-duty service members will have to make up the slack. New or extended Department of Defense contracts will be delayed until a government funding bill is passed. 

Nevada, which has two Air Force bases, a Navy base and an Army depot, is home to nearly 13,000 active-duty military personnel who will go unpaid during a shutdown, according to data from the defense department.

Social Security

Beneficiaries will still receive Social Security checks during a government shutdown, although furloughs could lengthen wait times for customer service.

Mail

The U.S. Postal Service is independently funded, so mail service will continue to operate as normal.

Veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) confirmed to The Indy that it will continue to operate veterans’ hospitals and clinics and deliver benefits for education, housing, pensions and more. Burials at VA national cemeteries will also continue. 

However, regional VA offices will close and services such as career counseling and small business assistance will be unavailable.

Small businesses

The Small Business Administration will stop processing new applications and existing loan applications will be stuck in limbo. However, the business administration will continue issuing disaster loans. Small business owners who have received loans must continue making payments during a shutdown. 

The Department of Labor will not publish the September jobs report, slated for Friday, and will suspend a variety of other surveys and reports until the shutdown ends. 

Disaster relief

As the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) runs out of money, long-term recovery projects will pause. In an interview with Fox News on Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said “we won’t have FEMA funded” during the shutdown.

However, the agency will continue to provide emergency relief efforts through its Disaster Relief Fund, which receives funding at the beginning of every year to address critical projects — some of which are active in Nevada — and is thus not affected by government shutdowns.

Former Nevada Independent reporter Gabby Birenbaum contributed reporting to this article.