You still get Social Security during shutdowns
If you have been paying attention (and you can be forgiven for not), government shutdowns happen irregularly but not infrequently. There have been 14 since 1976.
In all those years, Social Security recipients kept getting their checks and that was no different with the Oct. 1 shutdown this year. That is because Social Security is counted as mandatory spending and the money is already allocated.
If, in the unlikely event, a shutdown were to last three months, it is possible that Supplemental Security Income checks could be delayed, as well as cost-of-living increases. The longest shutdown ever was 35 days in 2018 but most shutdowns last just days.
Shutdowns happen because of political disagreements over budget appropriations.
