Government shutdowns occur surprisingly often, lasting an average of 5 days. A brief shutdown took place just a few months ago, on February 19th of 2018. This was a result of the Senate failing to pass a continuing resolution to extend spending until February 16th. Luckily, this particular shutdown only lasted 3 days. In certain situations, they have lasted much longer. The three longest government shutdowns occurred in 1978, 1995-1996, and more recently, 2013.
The shutdown of 1978 started on September 30th and ended on October 18th, lasting a total of 18 days. Jimmy Carter was president, with Democratic majorities in both the house and the Senate. Even though Carter was a member of the Democratic party, there were tensions within the federal government. Congress passed a defense bill which included funding for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Carter vetoed the bill as he considered it to be wasteful. In addition, he vetoed many bills that included public works, such as health, education, and welfare. Spending was delayed due to a dispute regarding the funding for abortion. The shutdown was resolved with a new defense bill and a public works bill.
The shutdown of 1995-1996 is the longest government shutdown the United States has seen. This began on December 5th of 1995 and didn't end until January 6th of the following year. It was the result of a standoff between President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Congressional Republicans wanted to slow down the rate of spending, but Clinton did not want compromise with the GOP. In response, Gingrich refused to raise the debt limit. The shutdown finally ended with a seven-year budget plan that included budget-cuts and tax increases. Most Americans blamed the Republicans for the shutdown, and Clinton's approval ratings increased.
The shutdown of 2013 lasted from October 1st until October 17, a total of 16 days. The main issue surrounding this shutdown was the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Republicans such as Ted Cruz tried to defund Obamacare by refusing to supply federal money. The Republican-controlled House passed a temporary measure that would keep the government running but would cut funding to Obamacare. This was rejected by the Democrat-majority Senate. Eventually, the standoff ended when the Republicans accepted defeat.
Extended government shutdowns can have significant consequences. Essential services - such as defense, national safety, and security - are not shut down, but other government departments are completely deprived of funding. This includes commerce, education, energy, labor, housing, and health services. If the shutdown extends beyond two weeks, it has a significant effect on economic growth.
https://www.thebalance.com/government-shutdown-3305683
https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/09/30/10-effects-of-a-federal-government-shutdown
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/07/ghost-shutdowns-past-haunts-latest-talks-keep-federal-government-open/928884001/
Nice post Emma! It's really interesting how the government can shutdown so quickly without seemingly that much notice. After doing some research, it turns out that it actually costs money to shut the government down, which seems pretty counterintuitive, as the point of a government shutdown is to cease all government funding until a budget can be decided on. According to a Government Accountability Office report, if a government shutdown lasts for three workdays, it costs $80 million in administrative costs and over $320 million is lost from potential government revenue. Not only this, but many federal employees also lose their pay for the duration of the shutdown. When the government shuts down, nobody benefits economically.
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https://www.npr.org/2018/01/21/579584199/the-economic-impact-of-a-government-shutdown
Similar to Cody, I always thought that government shutdowns were a big thing that did not happen very frequently. However, I learned from your blog that they actually happen much more than one would expect. I wasn't entirely sure what exactly a shutdown was supposed to address, and after reading online I learned that a government shutdown happens when congress cannot agree on a budget, and all nonessential federal departments are shut down. To address Cody's idea, I feel that it is in fact not counterintuitive. the shutdowns are so effective because nobody benefits from them, and since everybody will feel the negative economic effects stemming from the shutdown, the government will be compelled to compromise on deadlocked issues for fear of further upsetting the public.
Deletehttps://www.thebalance.com/government-shutdown-3305683
As discussed in your post, government shutdowns significantly impact "essential services." I decided to research how a government shutdown impacts the working force and laborers in general. A CBS News article discusses a variety of government agencies and departments and how each individually typically respond to a government shutdown. CBS News presents points such as statistics of those who become temporarily or permanently unemployed and what research comes to halt or continues. It is very interesting to understand how a shutdown can impact such a multitude of sectors of the American government. How this impacts the American people produces intriguing results.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-in-the-united-states-what-is-closed-who-is-affected-whats-next/
Thank you for the post Emma! I was a little frustrated by the amount of press covering this most recent government shutdown because the 2013 shutdown had comparatively received little coverage; I felt like Americans had thought this was just another problem created by our current government, rather than understanding that shutdowns have occurred in the past before. After reading your post I wanted to research about other shutdowns and was shocked to find that there have been 12 shutdowns since 1981, with the longest lasting 21 days under Bill Clinton. Additionally, according to the Guardian, each week the government is shutdown costs the US roughly $6.5 billion.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/18/what-is-a-federal-government-shutdown