The worst-case scenario for a government shutdown

Just how bad can things get?

Stock market
(Image credit: (Mario Tama/Getty Images))

A government shutdown looks all but inevitable. On Sunday, House Republicans passed a second continuing resolution (CR) that asks for a one-year delay of ObamaCare's individual mandate and a repeal of a medical-devices tax.

Senate Democrats will almost certainly — like they did on Friday — strip the House bill of any language involving ObamaCare and send it back. Their argument is that this law was already passed by Congress and deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court. As a delay of the individual mandate would more or less make ObamaCare unworkable, it's unlikely Democrats would see it as just another setback, like the employer mandate that was delayed until 2015.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Keith Wagstaff is a staff writer at TheWeek.com covering politics and current events. He has previously written for such publications as TIME, Details, VICE, and the Village Voice.