Why We Are Approaching a Government Shutdown, and How It Will Affect Us

    For the past few months, the threat of a government shutdown has been a persistent one. Caused by Congress’ failure to enact annual appropriations bills (discretionary spending split among 12 subcommittees), government shutdowns halt the movement of all non-essential government functions. This is due to the 1884 (but later amended) Antideficiency Act, which prohibits any spending of federal agencies without an appropriation or other form of approval from Congress. Since last fiscal year (which ended September 30th), funding decisions have been repeatedly postponed, with a deadline of this Friday, March 1st. However today (February 29th), both the House and Senate have passed a temporary stop-gap bill, delaying 6 of the appropriation bills to March 8th and the remaining 6 to March 22. This has effectively narrowly avoided the partial government shutdown that would have otherwise started this Saturday.

President Biden met with Congressional leaders Mike Johnson (House Speaker) and Chuck Schumer (Senate Majority Leader) to discuss government shutdown concerns

    Although there are many factors that can lead to difficulties for Congress to apportion money, this particular delay was influenced by policy disagreements in the House. Some of the central areas include national security, immigration and the border crisis, abortion, spending levels, as well as funding for allies. Because of these disputes, some House Republicans (Freedom Caucus) have viewed the looming possibility of a government shutdown as a negotiation strategy.

    Although the subcommittees halted by government shutdowns are deemed “non-essential”, the pause in their funding has detrimental effects on the economy as well as the American people. Although generally reduction in GDP growth is recovered in the weeks following, in the 2018-2019 five-week partial government shutdown, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that about $11 billion were lost, with $3 billion unable to be recovered. These estimates did not include indirect losses, such as effects on businesses’ abilities to apply for federal loans. However, it is difficult to use past shutdowns to assess future ones. Especially since the 2018-2019 shutdown was the longest in history and took place at the end of the fiscal year, whereas we are now at the beginning of the fiscal year, its economic impact is not indicative of the economy’s outcome if there is to be a government shutdown in the near future.

    During government shutdowns, hundreds of thousands of “non-essential” workers are furloughed, while hundreds of thousands others, such as TSA officers, work without pay. The delay of paychecks to bureaucrats can be detrimental to their livelihood and families, for oftentimes they rely on their regularly scheduled paycheck. The low morale of government workers is also tied to reduction of work an affected agency can do. Certain components, such as national parks without state or local funding, would be forced to close. Other services–such as the processing of employee visas, securing grants or loans, and obtaining marriage licenses–would slow and potentially halt. Federal food assistance programs under the Department of Agriculture such as the Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), would likely be unable to meet demands. These are just a few of the issues that could arise from a prolonged government shutdown.

    Government shutdowns also decrease American trust in the government (68%), as well as support for both political parties. As House Speaker Mike Johnson has said, “‘This is not a time for petty politics’”. Hopefully, members of Congress can come to an agreement and pass funding legislation before the time created by this new stop-gap bill runs out. 

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https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/congress-faces-looming-government-shutdown-deadline/story?id=107550520 
https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/schumer-mcconnell-johnson-jeffries-murray-collins-granger-delauro-joint-statement-on-fy24-appropriations-agreement 
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https://www.gibsondunn.com/what-a-government-shutdown-means-for-you/
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https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/affected-partial-government-shutdown/story?id=107590352 
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https://www.americanprogress.org/article/5-reasons-why-careening-from-near-shutdown-to-near-shutdown-is-bad-for-america/