In the event of a government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed, not knowing if or when they'd get paid. Their paychecks would ultimately depend upon the benevolence of a fractious Congress, which decides whether to pass legislation retroactively paying workers for their lost time.

But at least 535 civil servants in Washington don't have to worry about missed mortgage payments or mounting credit card debt due to a shutdown: the very members of Congress who threaten to grind government to a halt.

The salaries of Congress members, like the president, come from a pool of mandatory funds and aren't subject to the whims of lawmakers. If a shutdown happens, their checks keep coming, no matter what.

As a report issued this week by the Congressional Research Service puts it, "Due to their constitutional responsibilities and a permanent appropriation for congressional pay, Members of Congress are not subject to furlough."

This cruel irony isn't lost on the federal workers who stand to lose pay but for an act of Congress, most of whose members earn $174,000 a year.

"When the government shuts down, employees don't get paid," Colleen Kelley, head of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 federal workers, said Friday. "No matter how much Congress does not work, it still does get paid."

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill last week that made government funding contingent upon defunding the Affordable Care Act. On Friday, after days of showmanship by Obamacare opponents, the Democratic-controlled Senate sent the funding legislation back to the House after stripping the Obamacare provision. It's now up to House leaders whether to force a shutdown.

During the last shutdown, in 1995 and 1996, Congress later passed legislation that made workers whole for the days they were furloughed. This time around, union leaders and workers aren't sure Congress will be so merciful in an era of budget squabbles, even if members themselves are guaranteed to get paid.

【新聞快訊】

近來(lái)由于奧巴馬醫(yī)改爭(zhēng)議，驢、象兩黨之爭(zhēng)難解難分；受此影響，美國(guó)聯(lián)邦政府可能被迫17年來(lái)首次停擺。在歷史上，美國(guó)面臨過(guò)大大小小的政府關(guān)閉十多次，但是聯(lián)邦政府直接關(guān)門卻屈指可數(shù)。

本次，當(dāng)美國(guó)聯(lián)邦政府沖向午夜的關(guān)門期限時(shí)，聯(lián)邦職員也將面臨強(qiáng)制休假。上千名職員會(huì)面臨怎樣的命運(yùn)？有誰(shuí)依然要堅(jiān)守工作崗位，有多少人得休假?；蛟S最受關(guān)注的還是，是不是帶薪休假呢？在政府關(guān)閉期間，將要上班的工作人員有，軍人，邊境控制部門，交通管制部門，國(guó)會(huì)和總統(tǒng)等。相關(guān)人士提到，一旦政府關(guān)閉，部分政府公務(wù)員將被失業(yè)，還有部分公務(wù)員，不管是否上班，都領(lǐng)不到薪水。

空管，危險(xiǎn)品處理，食品檢驗(yàn)員等關(guān)鍵部門以外的政府雇員需要放假回家，按照此前的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，政府開(kāi)張后會(huì)補(bǔ)發(fā)休假薪水。華盛頓特區(qū)的垃圾站也將停止服務(wù)，護(hù)照申領(lǐng)部門也有可能停工。

如果你是等待政府貸款的小業(yè)主，等待吧；如果你想貸款買房，等待吧；如果你是退伍軍人，你的支票也許會(huì)遲到；如果你是社保領(lǐng)取者，你可能無(wú)須擔(dān)心。

軍人繼續(xù)保護(hù)公民安全，將在政府關(guān)門結(jié)束后領(lǐng)導(dǎo)軍餉。郵政部門繼續(xù)工作。處于風(fēng)暴中心的醫(yī)療部門，將繼續(xù)提供服務(wù)。

上一次的聯(lián)邦政府關(guān)閉發(fā)生在克林頓總統(tǒng)的第一任期，是美國(guó)歷史上關(guān)閉時(shí)間最長(zhǎng)的記錄。28萬(wàn)多政府員工被下崗，約48萬(wàn)核心雇員在沒(méi)有薪水的情況下繼續(xù)工作。退伍軍人福利延遲發(fā)放，近600個(gè)垃圾站停止清理工作。聯(lián)邦政府在1995年11員額中旬也關(guān)閉過(guò)6天，導(dǎo)致80萬(wàn)聯(lián)邦政府雇員停止工作。國(guó)會(huì)研究事務(wù)處表示，政府關(guān)閉話了納稅人14億美元。美國(guó)旅游業(yè)和航空業(yè)遭遇巨大打擊，政府合同收到不利影響。