For the first time in more than 40 days, Washington was set to open for business on Thursday, although some federal services would be slow to return and thousands of government employees were left unsure of when they might receive their missing paychecks.
The longest federal shutdown in U.S. history came to a close on Wednesday night as President Trump signed legislation to reopen the government, but it will take some time for the programs and people who were affected by the funding freeze to recover.
Furloughed federal employees will have to come back to work, including those responsible for processing payments to programs that are dependent on government dollars. Industries like the airline and hospitality sectors, which felt the punch of the government’s spending lapse, might need even more time to regain their footing. And the rest of the economy that felt the domino effect of the shutdown may feel the impact for some time.
Here are some of the ways the United States has to recover from the shutdown, and how long that may take after the government officially reopens.
When will federal workers get back pay and return to work?
Federal law requires that federal workers whose paychecks were paused during the shutdown be made whole. In the past, it has taken about a week for unpaid workers to receive back pay, though the Office of Personnel Management said it varies by agency.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that air traffic controllers will receive the first 70 percent of their back pay within 24 to 48 hours of the shutdown ending, but it is not clear if other parts of the government will be on a similar schedule.
It is also unclear if some departments will take longer to make workers whole, because of increased vacancies in agency payroll offices as a result of the Trump administration’s downsizing efforts. In the past, the back pay arrived in one check, a lump sum much higher than what employees would have received if they were paid on a normal schedule. Because of that, many will be taxed at a higher rate, an issue they will have to sort out with the Internal Revenue Service during tax season next year.
When will food stamp benefits be fully restored?
Though the Trump administration fought efforts to force them to use contingency funds to pay out benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, during the shutdown, a spokeswoman for the White House’s budget office insisted this week that beneficiaries will see their accounts fully restored within hours of the federal government reopening.
About one in eight Americans — 42 million people — rely on SNAP benefits for help in purchasing groceries.
