On Friday March 8th 2024, the Senate passed a bill that would prevent part of the US Government from shutting down the next day; a 75-22 vote on a 670 billion dollar spending plan going to Congressional agencies, such as agriculture, transportation, housing, energy, veterans affairs, justice, and more. But what are government shutdowns?
Government shutdowns happen when Congress fails to pass 12 annual Bills of Appropriation by specified dates. Bills of Appropriations are what allows bureaucracies to spend and incur obligations. Under the Antideficiency Act, these agencies are not allowed to continue operations until the bills are passed. This group of bills’ due date was set at March 8th, the day the Bill of Appropriation from last year was set to expire. The next batch expires on March 22nd.
Government shutdowns are when departments of government cease their operations, with only the most essential employees still hard at work. Bureaucracies, who are unable to spend and operate without permission from Congress, are unable to provide the people with their needs. Shutdowns are disruptive to the US economy if left that way for an extended period of time. From inconveniences, such as passport applications being paused, to more serious cases, such as the inability for small businesses to apply for loans and the reduced number of food safety inspections for the government, active Americans will feel the shakeup of the shutdowns. Recent shutdowns in the past occurred at 2018 and 2013, and costed the government billions of dollars
With this batch being passed like a last-minute-high-school-final-project by 435 of America’s top representative officials, what happened here?
With the recent polarization of America’s politics, especially on issues such as immigration and war, the two parties fighting for control of both houses have an incredibly difficult time negotiating on how to spend the budget for the next fiscal year. From the conflict in Ukraine and Palestine, to the border down south, agreement just seems harder each month. This holds especially true for Republicans’ iron stubbornness on border control holding up the vote, similar to House Republicans blocking the Senate Foreign Aid bill that was passed through Senate back in February. Though the eventual success of the bill gives encouragement to some, it also harbors worries to others.
"To folks who worry that divided government means nothing ever gets done, this bipartisan package says otherwise," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer after the long fought passage of the bill
“I would urge my colleagues to stop playing with fire here,” Republican Senator Susan Collins, the vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, expressed “ It would be irresponsible for us not to clear these bills and do the fundamental jobs that we have of funding government. What is more important?”
But we are not out of the woods yet with this problem. The next bills, which feature important departments such as military, homeland security, healthcare, and more, must be passed to uphold our government. As issues show little evidence of being resolved, more and more demands from Republicans start popping up on border control, abortion, and LGBT rights as an opportunity to take advantage of the desperation of the Democrats. Policies such as ankle monitors on immigrants awaiting court, more restrictions on birth control, and a bill that prevents Planned Parenthood from being federally funded may all be on the table.
“I made it very clear from Day One and throughout the negotiations,” Democrat Negotiator Sen. Patty Murray said Thursday. “We will not accept any, not one, not tiny, not little, not big abortion rider on these bills.”
It seems clear that the gridlock on Congress is tightening as we approach our next Appropriation Bill. Whether the stubbornness and polarization will get the best of our government as compromises break down with increasingly pressing demands, time will tell. To be specific, the time of approximately 3 units of Econ notes. Go get 'em!
Sources:
More information on Government Shutdowns
4 comments:
The comparison of legislators to high schoolers scrambling to finish a project feels incredibly apt. It has been only a few months since the last near government shutdown (and I think just a few months before since the narrowly-avoided government shutdown before that?). At any rate, legislators getting bogged down for months in partisan gridlock and then passing a bloated omnibus bill that ultimately nobody is happy about right before the deadline is unproductive. Other than wasting valuable taxpayer money they end up caving to the extreme views/whims of a minority of members in order to get SOMETHING to pass.
I agree with Vishal, although at the frequency that these near shutdowns are coming, it's probably even more often than once every few months. However, this bill is pretty interesting since, if I recall correctly, previous bills barely scraped by with much narrower margins. In this case, I'd say a 75-22 vote ratio is substantial, and does support Schumer's statements about this case at least being a bipartisan success. I suppose we'll see how the next deadline on March 22 goes to see if Congress can keep this up.
I disagree with Chuck Schumer's analysis that this signifies how the Congress is still able to "get something done." Like Rachel notes, the vote margin was pretty strong, but I still think this "save" was not enough. Almost shutting down the government due to political polarization is too far into political gridlock; our government should not stand on this shakiness of ground. I'm worried about the future bills proposed, filled with more controversial topics. Hopefully, time will make it easier for the Congresspeople to collaborate, as they will have more experience with each other. I think these events speak to the importance of how we elect our Congresspeople, and the upcoming elections should be an opportunity for voters to express their discontent with this polarization.
Thank you for this post, Ray. It's troubling that our elected officials, sworn in to do the very job of keeping the Government running, have trouble with their deadlines. I understand why it takes so long for the Senate to pass the appropriation bill, utilizing time as a bargaining tool, however, this leverage should not be to the detriment of America as a whole. Two things that I consider are a) the obvious partisan crisis that America faces, and b) is the loom of a "government shutdown" a serious danger, or are politicians using the threat widely just to get sway their ways?
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