Shutdowns Cost Billions as US Federal Workers Paid to Stay Home

The costly truth about US government shutdowns: They don’t save taxpayers a dime.

Government services may grind to a halt as federal workers get sent home. But, thanks to uncollected entrance fees at national parks, lack of sales from government gift shops and back pay provided to government employees, shutdowns can end up costing billions of dollars.

“The main thing government shutdowns do is leave the government to waste money,” said Marc Goldwein, a senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a Washington-based watchdog group. “We pay federal workers their regular salary in many ...