According to news agency Reuters, President Donald Trump's administration has announced which services would be suspended as the US government faces the possibility of a shutdown.
On Monday, the Trump administration laid out its strategy for which services it would suspend in the event that the federal government shuts down this week.41% of the health department's employees will be placed on furlough.
The White House has threatened to lay off thousands of hundreds of federal employees and reduce the size of the government, so if it happens, this shutdown will be different from the others.
The law governing the parameters of a shutdown expressly prohibits the training and onboarding of new federal employees, according to a memo released by the Office of Personnel Management on Monday.
The staff members in charge of any terminations, however, are expected to stay on the job.
According to the OPM, furloughed federal workers will now be allowed to check their email for layoff notices on government issued computers, unlike during previous shutdowns.
In a letter to the administration, Michigan Senator Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees shutdown operations, stated: "This outrageous plan threatens to cause lasting damage to the country and the safety of the American people by mass firing nonpartisan, expert civil servants and potentially even eliminating government agencies."
The 19th century law required agencies that lacked authorized funding to shut down.
According to Reuters, there are, however, exceptions made for the sake of national security and the defense of life and property.
Important government programs funded by mandatory spending are unaffected, such as Medicare and Medicaid access to healthcare and Social Security benefits for the elderly.
Pell grants and federal student loans for deserving students are still available.
In the event of a shutdown, the Veterans Affairs department said, cemetery maintenance would stop, but benefits and medical care would continue.
