Interesting

    Unlike Social Security, the Department of Veterans Affairs will stop processing new claims for benefits during the federal shutdown.

     I've said it before. Keeping the most visible parts of federal agencies open during federal shutdowns reduces the political costs of shutdowns, making them more likely to happen and longer when they do come. If everything other than prisons, law enforcement and the Military were shut down, we wouldn't have shutdowns. Stop the Treasury from paying contractors and see what happens. Just shut down air traffic control and see what happens.