NEWS
4
Second government shutdown looms
photo provided by whitehouse.gov
STORY BY IAN VAN ORDEN
MANAGING EDITOR
Dec. 22 m arked th e beginning o f th e longest
governm ent shutdow n in United States history.
The 35~day shutdow n, w hich w as temporarily
lifted o n Jan. 25, surpassed th e previous record
from the mid~i990sby 14 days. Since then, nearly
three w eeks have passed and America draw s
closer to another possible shutdow n once more.
Feb.15 will m a rktheendof th e stopgapbillthat
was passed toend the previous shutdown. Should
Congress and th e president find them selves at
an im passeonce m ore,itis possible th a t another
partial shutdow n loom s ju st a few days away.
T h e m o d e m co n c ep t o f a g o v e rn m e n t
s h u td o w n b e g a n in 1980 w ith a n e w
interpretation of th e 1884 A ntidefidency Act.
T he n ew in te rp re ta tio n sta te d th a t sh o u ld
th e g o v ern m en t foil to p a ss th e applicable
President Donald Trump held a Make America Great Again rally in El Paso, Texas,
on Monday. The rally focused on the border wall, once again calling for Congress
to allot the necessary funds in anticipation of the upcoming deadline coming this
Friday. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, is one of the
leading voices against the wall, calling it immoral.
B I
appropriationsbillfortheyear,the governm ent
would b e forced to d o se u ntil th e governm ent
could b e a p p ro p riately fu n d ed . T h e m o s t
com m on causes for shutdow ns over th e last 40
years have com e dow n to differences of political
positions.
This ran true for th e m o st recent shutdow n,
w hich w as caused by President Donald Trum p’s
insistence thatthenew appropriationsbill would
in d u d e $5.7billionin funds tobuildaw all along
parts of the country’s southern border. The wall,
a focus o f th e p resid en t’s cam paign in 2016,
h as b een a m a tte r of contention betw een th e
president andDemocratic m em bers of Congress
since h is election.
“ ...M ost of us, speaking for myself, consider
th e w all im m oral, ineffective and expensive,”
said R epresentative N ancy Pelosi in a p ress
conference in December.
T ru m p h a s b e e n e s p e d a lly vocal a b o u t
th e D em ocratic le ad ersh ip ’s stan c e o n th e
border wall. “The D em ocrats ju st d o n ’t seem
to w a n t B order Security,” said T ru m p in a
recent tweet. “They are fighting Border Agents
recom m endations. If youbelieve new s reports,
th ey are n o t offering m uch for th e Wall. They
look to be m aking th is a cam paign issue. The
Wall will get built one w ay or th e other!”
Though lawmakers continue to worktowards
a n a g re e m e n t th a t w o u ld avoid a n o th e r
shutdow n, and recent reports seem optimistic
th a t a b ip a rtisan so lution ca n b e found, th e
possibility still exists. To many, th e im pact of a
shutdow n m ay n o t be entirely dear.
“The consequences of lengthy governm ent
shutdow ns are b o th far-reaching an d in d u d e
m easurable consequences,” said Jam es Hite,
a political s d e n c e in stru c to r a t C lackam as
Com m unity College. “The estim ated economic
im pactofthe m ost recent government shutdown
is a t about $3 billion (according to th e CBO’s
report). A nd th e n th ere are consequences th a t
are n ot as easily m easured, such as th e negative
im p acto n th e m oraleofhundreds of thousands
of career civil servants.”
T h ro u g h o u t th e m o s t re c e n t sh u td o w n ,
around 380,000 governm ent em ployees were
furloughed. W hile furloughed, g o v ern m en t
w o rk ers are n o t paid an d , generally, do n o t
work. Though they receive back pay after they
return, th is can cause difficulties am ong those
w ho m ightbe living paycheck to paycheck. Some
employees, such as m an y of those w ho w orkfor
th e TSA, are still required to work, though they
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are n o t actively paid until after th e shutdow n
ends.
The sh u td o w n can also im p act p ro g ram s
such as food stam ps, w hich m u st be funded in
order to be paid out, should th e allotted funds
ru n o u t. A ccording to th e C o m m ittee fo r a
Responsible Federal Budget, o th e r program s
th a t are im pacted include Social Security and
Medicare, food inspection and national parks.
T h ere are, h o w ev er, so m e g o v e rn m e n t
bodies th atw illn o t be im pacted should another
sh u td o w n ta k e effect. A ccording to rece n t
reporting by CNN, th e 1RS will continué to staff
workers even if an o th er shutdow n takes place
in order to stop tax returns from being delayed.
Though employees would not be paid, they would
be available to continue processingretumsforthe
duration of th e shutdow n due to a contingency
plan instated som etim e in January.
A nother governm ent body th a t would n o t be
im pacted by a closure is th e United States Postal
Service. This is due to th e sem i-in d ep en d en t
nature o f th è service.
“Any profits th a t w e m ake goes first to pay for
anyof our needs, new vehides, newoffices,” said
Kirk Bartram, a 28-year v eteran of USPS w ho
w o rk so u to f theW estLinnoffice. “W hatever’s
left, Congress pretty m uch has free reign. They
can ta p into it an d u se it how ever th e y w ant.
W e’re n o t supposed to m ake a profit, w e ’re kind
of designed to ju st stay even. W e pay ourselves,
w e p re-fund our retirem ent. We p re-fund our
healthcare.”
According to Bartram, in order to stay even,
USPS is adm inistered by a board of governors.
They decide w h e n th è USPS is m a k in g too
m uch or too little revenue an d adjust rates to
com pensate.
“It all com es d ow n to you,” said B artram .
“ Buying a stam p , m ailing a letter. M ailing a
package.”
During a “Make America Great Again” rally in
El Paso, Texas, onM onday,Trum p continued to
m ake his case for January’s shutdown.
“If w e had n ot done this shutdow n, w e would
n o t have b een able to show this country, these
politicians, w h at d ie hell is hap p en in g a t th e
border,” said Trump.
Many, how ever,disagreew iththepresident’s
p o sitio n . “T h e m o s t re c e n t g o v e rn m e n t
shutdow n w as entirely unnecessary an d w as
caused by Mr. Trum p’s political inexperience,”
said Hite. “W hat Trum p failed to understand
w as th a t th e D em o crats in th e H o u se o f