WH: Shutdown Affects 800K Jobs

The Hill reports:

The Obama administration warned Wednesday a government shutdown could furlough more than 800,000 federal workers and stymie the economic recovery.

It would also cut off pay to members of the military and slow tax refunds, an administration official told reporters during a press call. National parks and the Smithsonian museums would be closed.

Lawmakers and the White House are working to avert a shutdown, but there were mixed signs Wednesday on whether they were making any progress.

President Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) discussed the negotiations in a three-minute phone call, while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) again criticized Republicans on the Senate floor.

Obama is prepared to call congressional leaders to the White House on Wednesday night if necessary, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Air Force One. Obama is traveling to Pennsylvania and New York today but returns to Washington at about 9 p.m.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) saw glimmers of hope that a shutdown set to start Saturday could be avoided, but other lawmakers predicted it would happen.

A shutdown's impact on the military and seniors could have heavy political implications in Washington.

Most security-related employees, including the military, will continue working but wouldn't get paid beyond Friday's looming deadline to reach an agreement on a budget plan, the administration official said.

The troops will "continue to earn money during this period of time, but given that we don’t have any money to pay out, they will not be paid, they will not receive their paychecks, until we have money again and Congress appropriates,” the official said.  

On Tuesday, a Pentagon spokesman said the Defense Department hadn't figured out how pay will be affected, including to nearly 150,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. DOD is expected to continue its operations in Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as Libya and won't stop its earthquake assistance to Japan.

Medicare and Social Security would remain mostly unaffected if lawmakers can't reach an agreement on a final budget bill for this year by the end of the day Friday, the official said. Officials are still finalizing plans for Social Security but they didn't expect the delivery of checks would be hampered. Medicare would receive "funding for a short period of time" but it would probably take months for Medicare to run out of funding, the official said.

Polls make it unclear who would get the most blame for a shutdown. An NBC/Wall Street Journal survey released Wednesday found 37 percent would blame Republicans, with 20 percent blaming congressional Democrats and 20 percent blaming the White House.

Both parties are worried they'd be blamed for a shutdown.