Long Beach officials say federal shutdown will not affect city services — yet

Congress failed to pass a continuing resolution to fund the federal government, effectively shutting it down Wednesday. Long Beach officials quickly issued a statement telling residents that day-to-day services will not be impacted by the shutdown — for now.

The city government remains open and operations, including the police and fire departments, public health, trash pickup, street sweeping and road maintenance, libraries, permitting, parks, licensing and inspections, according to the statement.

“However, the City is closely monitoring the situation, as a prolonged shutdown could begin to impact certain federally funded programs, such as housing assistance, nutrition programs and other safety net services administered in partnership with federal agencies,” the statement reads. “There may also be implications for jobs, economic activity and regional stability if the shutdown persists.”

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he would likely lay off "a lot" of federal workers if there was a government shutdown.

Social security payments, Medicare and Medicaid, the U.S. Postal Service and the Veterans Administration are expected to remain operational.

Long Beach Airport also will remain open and operational, with city officials noting that air traffic controllers and TSA officers are considered essential workers who will continue working without pay. But historically, shutdowns have led to staff shortages at airports and other services due to many people’s unwillingness to work for free, as was the case during the 2018 government shutdown.

"Our expectation and history shows that air travel continues to be safe, but history also shows that when workers, whether it's air traffic controllers or Transportation Security officers, have to continually show up for work without pay, it adds additional stress," Erik Hansen, senior vice president of government relations at the U.S. Travel Association, told USA Today.

Staff shortages at Long Beach Airport could result in longer wait times and flight delays. City officials encouraged travelers to check their flight status with their airline before arriving at the airport.

Though Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House, Democrats and Republicans are blaming each other for the shutdown. Democrats have pushed to extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies and undo Medicaid cuts included in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” Republicans flatly rejected both, claiming Democrats were attempting to give healthcare to undocumented immigrants. Democrats have pointed out that undocumented immigrants have never been eligible for Medicaid, but rather they are fighting to keep million of Americans from losing access to health care.

Rep. Robert Garcia took to social media Wednesday morning, posting a video in which he notes that Republicans have “fled” the Capitol.

“We are right now in a government shut down because of Donald Trump,” Garcia said. “Our focus is lowering the cost of health care, lowering the cost for families, but he’s still obsessed with giving tax breaks to billionaires and to increase health costs.”

“We should not give Donald Trump one single vote to continue his terror on our communities, to continue to raise premiums on health care,” Garcia continued.

There have been 21 government shutdowns since 1976, more than half of which lasted five days or less, according to a report by the Courier Journal. The longest shutdown — 35 days — happened during Trump’s last term.

Prior to entering politics, Trump was critical of President Barrack Obama, who had a 17-day shutdown in 2013 as Republicans pushed back on his landmark ACA legislation. At the time, Trump slammed Obama for failing to “get everybody in a room.”

"If you say who gets fired, it always has to be the top. Problems start from the top, and they have to get solved from the top, and the president’s the leader, and he’s got to get everybody in a room, and he’s got to lead. And he doesn’t do that, he doesn’t like doing that, that’s not his strength,” Trump said during an interview with Fox and Friends.

"When [historians] talk about the government shutdown, they’re going to be talking about the president of the United States, who the president was at that time,” Trump continued. “They’re not going to be talking about who was the head of the House, the head the Senate, who’s running things in Washington. So I really think the pressure is on the president."