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A partial shutdown of the federal government would delay almost 2,000 FEMA disaster recovery and emergency preparedness projects nationwide, according to the White House.
That includes 222 projects in Louisiana, second most of any state behind Florida. However, local officials do not expect any impact on FEMA’s assistance related to the saltwater intrusion emergency.
“It’s clear that a government shutdown would result in dire consequences for our economy, our national security, and the most vulnerable Louisianians,” U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat whose district includes part of the Capital Region, says in a prepared statement. “We must find a way to resolve our political disputes that doesn’t involve the security of the American people.”
The office of U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tried to avoid a shutdown Friday with a stopgap spending bill. Twenty-one Republicans crossed over to vote with all the Democrats against the bill for a vote of 198-232, which means Congress likely will miss the midnight Saturday deadline to keep the government fully funded.
White House officials do not believe a brief shutdown would have a significant economic impact, though a prolonged funding impasse could be another story, the New York Times reports.
The nation’s air-travel system is expected to operate relatively normally during a shutdown, and the Postal Service, which doesn’t rely on taxpayer dollars, would not be affected, The Associated Press reports.
