CNN News：美政府关门危机再现

The U.S. government has a budget. It lays out what the government plans to spend on various programs and if Congress cannot agree on what that budget should be, a government shutdown is possible.

美国政府有财政预算。政府列出了计划在各种项目上的支出，如果国会不能就预算问题达成一致，政府就有可能关门。

So, what would actually happen?

那么到底会发生什么呢?

Nothing for services that are considered essential. Air traffic control would continue operating. Government medical workers would stay on the job, along with border patrol officers. Security and defense would stay in place, though troops in the military might not get their paychecks until the government starts running again, though they would get back pay when it did.

没有任何服务是必不可少的。空中交通管制将继续进行。政府医务人员将和边境巡逻人员将继续工作。虽然军队可能在政府重新开始运转之前不会得到工资，但在政府重新开始运转之前，安全与防御仍将继续存在。政府开始运转时，他们就会得到工资。

Civilian government employees could be sent home without pay.

文职的政府官员因为没有薪水，可以回家。

What could actually shut down?

那么哪些机构将会被关闭呢?

National parks, the Smithsonian museums, the Education Department, though schools would stay open. Other government departments, including the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, they could all close.

国家公园，史密森尼博物馆，教育部门，但学校会保持开放。其他政府部门，包括国家卫生研究院、食品药品监督管理局、环境保护局，都可能会关闭。

Has the government shut down before?

政府以前关闭过吗?

Yes, nearly 20 times in the past 40 years.

在过去的四十年关闭过将近20次。

When it would happen this time around?

那么这一次是什么时候发生呢?

Possibly on Friday night. The government`s budget runs 12 months from October 1st through the following September 30th. But when lawmakers couldn`t agree on the budget last fall, they started passing short term spending deals, which kept the government funded temporarily. The current one of those expires Friday at midnight.

可能是星期五晚上。政府的预算是12个月，从10月1日到次年9月30日，。但去年秋天，议员们无法就预算达成一致时，他们开始通过短期的支出协议，这让政府暂时得到了资金支持。目前的一项将于周五午夜到期。

So, what are the hang-ups on a longer term budget?

那么长期预算存在什么问题呢?

Well, Democrats insist the budget should contain a solution for young immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children. Republicans insist the budget should contain more money for border security. And the White House insists on funding for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

民主党人士坚持认为，预算应该包含针对那些非法来到到美国的年轻移民的解决方案。共和党人士坚持预算应该包含更多的资金用于边境安全。而白宫坚持要为美国和墨西哥之间的边境墙提供资金。

Experts say that most Republicans and most Democrats do not want the government to shut down, and each side blames the other for the holdup.

专家们表示，多数共和党人和民主党人不希望政府关门，但是双方将责任互相推诿。

But if they can`t reach an agreement on either a full budget or another temporary one to delay a shutdown, one could happen starting this weekend.

但是，如果他们不能就全部预算或另一个临时协议达成协议，那么本周末政府就会关门。