Welcome to the first edition of Minuteman’s Update! Each issue, you’ll get a rundown on the major political headlines coming out of Washington, D.C., which these days is often abundant.
This issue, we’ll be focusing entirely on the government shutdown. Let’s go back to the beginning to see how it all started.
The government shutdown essentially began because Congress could not agree on a bill funding government spending and services from October onward. Republicans, who currently control the House and the Senate, are short of about 60 votes to pass the bill. Democrats want to extend the tax credits that make health insurance cheaper and reverse the cuts to Medicaid enacted by President Trump earlier this year. Conversely, Republicans want more cuts to government health agencies and additional layoffs of government employees.
Government shutdowns aren’t unusual, but the length and severity of this one is. If it surpasses the last shutdown, which was for 35 days, this will become the longest government shutdown in United States history.
In its first week, the shutdown caused temporary closures of the Smithsonian, the delay and cancellation of thousands of flights, and, most importantly, the furlough and freeze of pay to thousands of government employees. This means that employees are on indefinite, unpaid leave, while others are expected to work with no pay.
In the Justice Department, 96% of employees have been furloughed or are working without pay while in the Departments of Education, Commerce, Labor, and the EPA over 75% of their employees are working with no pay. The Post Office and Medicaid will continue, as those are government entities with outside funding or considered too essential to cease operations.
In the shutdown’s second week, most Americans began to feel the effects. Rural farmers had their planting interrupted, as they did not know what future assistance they could expect from the federal government. Public transportation slowed, or completely shut down. Smaller government programs like SNAP, WIC, and HeadStart were unsure if their funding would be disrupted later in the year, and if emergency funding reserved for these organizations could be used elsewhere. Additionally, services providing aid and care to Native Americans were either postponed or entirely canceled.
Since the third week of the shutdown, the country’s future remains unclear. A bipartisan agreement seems unlikely. The financial future of the country depends on Congress’s ability to work together and develop a bill that is just enough to pass in the Senate and House. President Trump and various Republican Congressmen have spent the past three weeks faulting Democrats online for the shutdown, even though Republicans control both the House and the Senate, and it is their party that is missing the 60 votes necessary to pass the bill. It’s hard to imagine a more perfect storm of disagreement between Republicans and Democrats, and it’s even harder to imagine a more public stage for it to play out on. Hopefully, by the next issue, I will have a resolution to write about!
