Government Shutdowns

Government shutdowns are a messy, controversial part of the United States government. A government shutdown happens when Congress misses the deadline, October 1st, to approve the new budget for the federal government. A government shutdown means that many government employees stop working until the government opens up again. However, other essential workers are expected to keep working without pay. The worst occurrence of this was from December 2018 to January 2019, when the government was shut down for a whopping 34 days. For over a month, government workers went without pay and still had to show up to work every day. Many took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their stories under the #ShutdownStories hashtag. “Met a TSA agent picking out some provisions on Saturday at a local food bank. He’s beyond stressed,” user @BenMcAdams states, “his family can live off peanut butter and canned goods for a little while, but he doesn’t know how he will pay rent. He deserves better. End the shutdown. #shutdownstories.” Many workers were forced to work multiple other jobs just to make ends meet as user @sinai_selah states: “Thankful I have two jobs because I'm not getting paid at TSA. But I still have to show up. Which means I have to work both jobs every day, sleeping two to three hours at night, just to not even break even on bills. #ShutdownStories.” 

Government shutdowns have not only disrupted government workers, but the average American also faces troubles when shutdowns happen. As this CNN article states, Americans may deal with airport delays, pushed-back immigration cases, and some may not have access to early education or food assistance programs. The FDA, the organization that inspects food and drugs for safety, is also not considered essential by the government, so for the entirety of the shutdown, Americans could be consuming dangerous foods.

However, it's not only essential workers and citizens being affected. According to NBC, in 2019, the economy permanently lost $3 billion that could have been spent if not for the shutdown. Had there been a shutdown this year that lasted as long as the one in 2019, it would have dealt irreparable damage to the economy.

Government shutdowns are a problem for government workers, the American people, and the economy. However, government shutdowns have an easy solution: an automatic continuing resolution (CR). A CR is a law that usually continues the budget from the previous year if Congress misses the deadline to approve a new spending budget. CRs have been used before to prevent government shutdowns, as was the case in 2013, when former president Barack Obama signed one for the military budget, according to this Vox article. Only a few weeks ago, President Biden signed a CR to prevent a government shutdown for 45 days. 

The United States is also one of the only successful countries that still uses government shutdowns. For example, Germany uses a system similar to CRs. According to this Washington Post article, Germany simply continues their government budget from last year until a new leadership steps in.  If we used CRs more regularly, all of the devastating consequences that come with government shutdowns would be avoided.