Government Shutdown Looms: Will You Still Get Your Social Security Benefits?

As a potential government shutdown raises concerns for the 68 million Americans who rely on Social Security benefits, many are left wondering how it might impact their payments.

Here's what you need to know about whether recipients will continue to receive their much-needed checks during this uncertain time.

Essential Services Will Continue

During a government shutdown, essential services will continue without interruption, including:

• Retirement and Disability Benefits (Social Security, including SSI)
• Military Veterans' Benefits and Medical Care
• Food Benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Even during a government shutdown, some federal agencies remain operational because their workers are deemed "essential" for critical functions like air traffic control, border protection, law enforcement, hospital care, and power grid maintenance, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, USA Today reports.

While many federal agencies and programs would be disrupted during a shutdown, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are funded separately from the annual budget, allowing them to continue without interruption.

Hence, retirement and disability benefits, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, will still be issued. Additionally, military veterans' benefits, medical care, and food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will remain unaffected by a shutdown.

Social Security benefits are not part of the budget process, as they are funded through dedicated resources, said Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute. "All that money is there to paid (out). It doesn't have to be appropriated. ... You're still going to get your checks."

When Are Social Security Benefits Due?

Here's the schedule for when Social Security benefits will be issued in the coming weeks:

Dec. 24: Benefits for recipients with birthdates between the 21st and 31st.
Dec. 31: January SSI payments.
Jan. 3: Social Security benefits for recipients who started before May 1997.
Jan. 1: SSI payments for those receiving both Social Security and SSI.

As Government Shutdown Looms

The U.S. government could shut down at midnight on Friday if Congress doesn't pass a temporary spending bill, partly due to pressure from President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump is also asking lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling before he takes office on January 20, reports Reuters.

Every year, Congress is supposed to approve funding for government agencies by October 1, but they often miss the deadline and pass temporary bills to keep things running. The current temporary bill runs out on Saturday. Both Republicans and Democrats have created a new bill to extend the deadline until March 14, but Trump has urged Republicans to vote against it.

If Congress can't agree on a deal that both the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-majority Senate approve before midnight on Friday, many government services will stop as funding lapses.

SSA's Contingency Plan for a Shutdown

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a clear plan in place to ensure benefits continue during a shutdown.

The SSA's strategy is to prioritize activities that are critical to delivering benefits accurately and on time. While non-essential operations will be suspended, essential functions such as processing benefit applications, issuing new and replacement Social Security cards, and maintaining IT systems for fraud protection and benefit payments will continue.

However, some activities will be paused. These include benefit verifications, corrections and updates to earnings records not related to benefit adjudication, and IT enhancement projects.