A double-barreled government shutdown

Congress has no appetite for fixing the broken appropriations process and finds itself again deeply divided over spending decisions.

By Max Stier

With the March 14 expiration of the latest continuing resolution, we are again staring down the barrel of a government shutdown. Congress has failed its core constitutional duty to fully fund the government on time every year since 1996, but this time is fundamentally different. The Trump administration’s relentless destruction of the federal workforce and its insidious and unconstitutional elimination of critical public services represents a second, de facto government shutdown that lawmakers must address.

With devastating speed, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been deconstructing the government without congressional authorization. They have arbitrarily fired tens of thousands of civil servants, unilaterally frozen approved funding, failed to enforce laws, and effectively halted and sabotaged the work at agencies dealing with everything from public health and education to consumer protection, foreign aid, law enforcement and scientific research.

If Congress abdicates its responsibility and a shutdown occurs, it will be playing right into Trump’s hand by giving him carte blanche to further kneecap agencies that have missions of which he disapproves and to sideline federal employees who are viewed as impediments to his quest for unrestricted power. Though the chaos that has ensued since Trump’s inauguration is unprecedented, a government shutdown would add to the toxic mix.

Under the rules of a shutdown, Trump would have wide authority to determine what activities are necessary to safeguard life and property and to target civil servants he deems should be furloughed. A shutdown is destructive in normal times, but this latest incarnation would give Trump a green light to carry out his attack on an even broader scale.

The balance of power envisioned by our country’s founders, three co-equal branches of government serving as a check on each other, has become tilted in favor of the presidency over the years, a trend that is now going at warp speed under Trump, threatening the foundation of our democratic system. Conservatives have long espoused the need to limit executive power through the “major questions doctrine,” and there could be no clearer need for its application than many of the power-grabbing activities of this administration.

Since the 1990s, there have been four shutdowns in which government operations were affected for more than one business day and countless continuing resolutions to keep the government open on a temporary basis. Although shutdowns have negative consequences and impede agencies from fulfilling their public missions, two thirds of government spending is mandatory, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and therefore exempt from the current battle.

In the past, however, as many as 800,000 of the roughly 2 million federal employees were furloughed, but that number could be substantially higher this time around, based on Trump’s discretion. The impact, even with many key functions continuing, would be felt throughout the country and add to the uncertainty and upheaval taking place.

Amid a measles outbreak in Texas and other locales, for example, disease surveillance would be hampered, and thousands of children from low-income families could see Head Start programs shuttered. National parks will close, small-business and agricultural loans applications would face delays, food safety and environmental inspections would stop and many additional civilian employees at the Department of Defense would likely be sent home, as examples.

Legislation proposed several years ago by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) attempted to address the repeated failure of Congress to fulfill its funding responsibilities and should be reconsidered. The legislation would require all members of Congress to stay in Washington, D.C., if appropriations work is not done on time; mandate an automatic continuing resolution on rolling 14-day periods, based on the most current spending levels, if funding deadlines are not met; and ban taxpayer-funded travel allowances for members of Congress.

Congress has shown no appetite for fixing the broken appropriations process and finds itself again deeply divided over spending decisions. But, even more worrisome, Congress has been unwilling to stand up to the president as he has unilaterally expanded his authority at the expense of the legislative branch and intentionally undermined the government he was elected to lead. More than anything else, we need Congress to stop this permanent shutdown and take ownership of the reform of our government.

Max Stier is president and chief executive of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, an organization focused on building a better government and a stronger democracy.

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