Government Shutdowns Fail the American People

This week the American people enter the fifth week of a federal government shutdown. Starting Nov. 1, more than 40 million Americans who rely on food stamp benefits will not have their debit-style cards replenished to buy groceries. That’s nearly 1 in 8 Americans, including 131,000 Iowa families.

It’s shocking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said every day the shutdown goes on is “better for us.” Schumer and the Democrats’ misguided political calculus will take food assistance away from low-income Americans and is forcing federal workers to miss paychecks. What’s more, the Democrats’demands would add trillions in entitlement spending as the national debt careened past $38 trillion for the first time. These demands have nothing to do with the annual spending bills. In fact, the continuing resolution that passed the House, but most Senate Democrats are blocking, would keep funding government programs at levels agreed to under President Biden and a Democrat Senate. Such a tone deaf position calls for a history lesson.

Throughout my five decades serving in Congress, the funding spigot to keep government operating has been shut off from time to time when lawmakers and the White House fail to see eye to eye on spending bills that fund the government from one year to the next. If some or all of the 12 appropriations bills haven’t been signed into law by Sept. 30, the federal government faces a full or partial shutdown.

During the Clinton administration, House Speaker Newt Gingrich led the charge to restore fiscal discipline that swept Republicans into the Congressional Majority for the first time since 1954. At the end of 1995, the Republican Majority and the White House drew respective lines in the sand that resulted in a government shutdown. At that time, I thought it was good policy to get us on track to balance the budget. For 21 days, the president and lawmakers dug in their heels waiting for someone to blink.

The lesson I learned three decades ago applies today: nobody wins in a government shutdown, especially the American people. And, the party that refuses to vote to extend federal funding as leverage to extract unrelated policy concessions always takes the blame.

It costs money to shut down the government. It costs money to open up the government. The government is a service to the people. When the government is closed, it can’t serve the people. It’s that simple. The shutdown that started on Oct. 1 of this year has the embarrassing distinction of being the longest-ever full government shutdown.

With food assistance, federal paychecks and aviation safety on the line, it’s high time to reopen the government. I’ve voted more than a dozen times to do just that since Oct. 1 so that Congress can get on with the people’s business and farmers, small businesses, veterans, service members and families can get the services and benefits the government provides.

One thing’s for sure. Every day the shutdown continues doesn’t make things “better” for the American people. Think about it. A Democrat House leader from Massachusetts admitted American families will “suffer” as a result of the shutdown. She and other members of her caucus say the “unpleasantness” is worth it for political “leverage.”

It’s wrong to weaponize government. The shutdown forces federal workers to miss paychecks, leads to unnecessary delays at the airport, puts low-income families at risk of losing food assistance, creates uncertainty for family farmers, prevents kids from accessing Head Start services and more. The funding lapse also slows the wheels of justice in the federal courts by depriving the judiciary of funding to sustain full operations.

The political pendulum is starting to swing and hopefully will knock common sense into a handful more of my colleagues sooner, rather than later. We need 60 votes in the Senate to reopen the government. If just five more Democrats would join their three colleagues to vote with Republicans to fund the government, we could get things back up and running. Three pilot unions and the nation’s largest union of federal workers have called on Congress to end the shutdown immediately, with no preconditions.

For several years, I’ve pushed to put a permanent end to government shutdowns by enacting legislation that would implement an automatic continuing resolution based on current spending levels. This would ensure critical services and operations of government continue while Congress completes work on its annual appropriations bills.

Article One, Section 9 of the Constitution vests the power of the purse to the legislative branch. Congress needs to stop pussyfooting around with partisan games and reopen the government.

On Day 27 of the shutdown, I thanked the Senate chaplain for his opening prayer reminding lawmakers of the harm caused by shutting down the government. In his words, “…no gold medals are given for breaking shutdown records, but a crown of righteousness is given to those who take care of the lost, last, and least.”