Government shutdowns in the United States
A shutdown can be temporarily avoided through the enactment of a continuing resolution (CR), which can extend funding for the government for a set period, during which time negotiations can be made to supply an appropriation bill that all involved parties of the political deadlock on spending can agree upon.
However, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued two opinions in 1980 and 1981, that more strictly interpreted the Antideficiency Act in the context of a funding gap, along with its exceptions.
In the absence of appropriations, exceptions would be allowed only when there is some reasonable and articulable connection between the function to be performed and the safety of human life or the protection of property.
During the 2013 shutdown, for example, 800,000 employees were locked out, payment was delayed to 1.3 million workers,[14] confidence in the job market decreased for a month,[15][16] and GDP growth slowed 0.1–0.2%.
[14] Some effects of the shutdown are difficult to measure and can linger afterward, such as destroyed scientific studies, lack of investment, and deferred maintenance costs.
He writes, "No other political phenomena so forcefully and dramatically obliges the whole people to recognize that their ideological divisions have become so great that the exercise of their sovereignty has become virtually impossible," and "During a shutdown, the government, which is bound by elaborate mechanisms to the national will, becomes confused.
[32] Democrats (from Jan 2019) This list includes only major funding gaps which led to actual employee furloughs within federal departments of the US government.
[46] On 1 May 1980, during the presidential term of Jimmy Carter, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was shut down for one day after Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill for the agency, due to going against his political beliefs and goals.
[48] The shutdown ended after one day when Carter threatened to close down the entire US government if Congress did not pass spending bills by 1 October later that year.
[49] While the shutdown affected only a number of government departments,[50] economists of the time believed that it cost taxpayers an estimated $80–90 million in back pay and other expenses over the entire day.
[36] The second shutdown occurred on the afternoon of 4 October 1984, with 500,000 federal employees placed on furlough during this period, after Reagan mounted opposition towards the inclusion of a water projects package and a civil rights measure within the proposed appropriations bill that day.
[36] A third shutdown occurred for an afternoon on October 17, 1986, in which 500,000 federal employees were furloughed,[36] in order to pressure Congress to agree on a full-year omnibus appropriations bill more quickly.
[60] The first shutdown took place on 14 November 1995, after a CR issued on 1 October had expired, and meetings between Democrat and Republican leaders failed to end the deadlock.
[10] The shutdown was eventually ended on 6 January 1996,[10] when White House and Congressional negotiators worked out a balanced budget agreement, which included approval towards modest spending cuts and tax increases.
[63] Some effects of the shutdowns included the government, tourism, and airline industry losing millions of dollars in revenue during this period, with disruptions made towards the processing of passports and visas, and work on medical research and toxic waste cleanup being halted.
The shutdown of 2013 occurred during the second Obama term, focusing on a disagreement between Republican-led House of Representatives and the Democratic-led Senate towards the contents of the 2014 Continuing Appropriations Resolution bill, alongside other political issues.
Both Obama and Democratic senators refused to agree to these measures, seeking instead for the bill to maintain government funding at then-current sequestration levels with no additional conditions.
Democrats opposed further efforts by congressional Republicans, led by House Speaker John Boehner, to delay funding of the ACA, and rejected piecemeal Resolution bills proposed by them to resolve the shutdown.
[73] Their proposal, which won a Senate vote,[73] approved an amended Resolution bill that would keep funding at sequestration levels, temporarily suspend the debt limit until 7 February 2014, and included a concession to congressional Republicans on the ACA by applying stricter income verification rules in regards to health insurance.
[75] The 16-day shutdown had considerable impact upon the United States: approximately 800,000 federal employees were put on furlough, while an additional 1.3 million had to report to work without any known payment dates during this period,[38] costing the government millions in back pay;[76] major government programmes concerning Native Americans,[77][78] children,[79] and domestic violence victims,[80] alongside the legal processing of asylum and immigration cases,[81][82] and sexual assault cases handled by the Office of Civil Rights,[83] were badly disrupted by the shutdown; tourism was greatly impacted due to the closure of national parks and institutions during the shutdown and cost the government millions in lost revenue; and US economic growth was reduced during this period.
By the start of October 2017, Congress had failed to approve an appropriation bill to fund the US government in 2018, and instead passed three CRs to keep federal agencies open until 19 January 2018.
[citation needed] Trump initially backed down on demands for border wall funding, but reversed this decision on 20 December 2018 over pressure from supporters, refusing to sign any continuing resolution that did not include it.
Although he had support from several Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Trump faced stiff opposition to border wall funding from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, with neither party able to break the political impasse through negotiations,[100] rallying public support through televised addresses,[101][102] offering proposals on alternative border security funding measures,[103] or making concessions for a proposed appropriation bill with regards to the DACA policy.
[107][108] Sharp reductions had to be made on payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,[109][110] the Internal Revenue Service faced delays in processing around $140 billion worth of tax refunds,[111] the FBI faced major disruptions to some of its investigations,[111][112] staff shortages in the Transportation Security Administration caused airports to be closed down, and economic growth was reduced by billions of dollars.
