The federal government shutdown could happen at midnight as Congress has been unable to come to an agreement on a stopgap spending bill.
The bipartisan bill included $1.6 billion that would go directly to Maui County to rebuild homes that were lost in the 2023 fires.
The measure also included additional funds for job training, small business loans, and rebuilding water infrastructure on Maui.
This comes after President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally, Elon Musk, announced their opposition to the measure that would have funded the government through March 14.
U.S. Rep. for Hawaiʻi Jill Tokuda explained that the 70,000 government workers and active military personnel in Hawaiʻi will be impacted by the government shutdown.
"70,000 families in Hawaiʻi having to go without a paycheck during the holidays — it's already tough enough living in Hawaiʻi, as we know too well," she said.
"Imagine not having a paycheck until government gets its job done and keeps the lights on and passes a continuing resolution until you get paid. We are in an unacceptable moment, a completely 100% avoidable moment."
Essential government employees will have to work without pay. Nonessential workers will be furloughed until Congress can reach an agreement.
Tokuda added that other services like Medicare, veteran services, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, could be compromised as there will be limited staff available to administer programs.
" A number of the individuals who help with any issues people are dealing with, any assistance, outreach, whatnot — they are not essential. They are not working," she said.
"When you think of a lot of different programs and services that people depend upon, you might still be getting a check, but if you have any issues with that check, it will be a lot harder to get in touch with someone who can provide you with any kind of assistance."
A government shutdown would also affect airport personnel, impacting holiday travel.
Tokuda warned that this could be an indicator of what's to come under the incoming Trump administration.
" This is very much a foreshadow of the years to come, but if you take a look at literally what is being done, this administration will not discriminate in terms of who it screws over," she said.
"This is going to hurt red states, blue states, purple states, they are literally impacting every single American in this country... this may be just the first of many challenges that we have to get through together."
The last government shutdown was in 2018 and lasted 35 days when Congress disagreed over negotiations to build Trump's wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
