Update: As of 10:30 pm, Wednesday, October 16, 2013, the motion to reopen the government and to raise the debt ceiling passed the Senate (81-18) and the House (285-144). Only Republicans in both houses voted against the measure. The motion passed on the 16th day of the government shutdown and two hours before the debt ceiling deadline. President Obama signed the bill Thursday morning and many federal workers returned to work.
Update: As of October 7, the Defense Department welcomed back 350,000 furloughed civilian employees.
Update: As of October 5, Congress voted 407-0 to retroactively pay furloughed workers.
In case you missed it, the government shut down on Tuesday, October 1. Even though many of us haven’t seen the immediate effects yet, parts of the country are already reeling. Here’s a guide with (almost) everything you need to know to sound smart in casual political conversation.
How does a government shutdown happen?
Congress’ main duty as outlined in the Constitution is to pass spending bills that fund expenses incurred by the government from the previous year. It didn’t. As a result, government agencies that needed funding to continue operations had to close.
Why did the government shut down?
Republicans in the House of Representatives have repeatedly introduced bills to fund the government. However, each bill has also contained a provision to defund the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The Democratically controlled Senate has rejected the bill every time and told the House to send a bill without the anti-Obamacare provision.
Why did it come in the middle of the year?
The congressional fiscal year is from October 1st of one year to September 30 of the next. Congress had until 11:59 p.m. on September 30 (the end of the 2012-2013 fiscal year) to come to an agreement about paying its bills, so as of 12:00 a.m. on October 1, the government shut down.
What are the President and Democrats saying?
President Obama has accused the Republicans of “demanding ransom just for doing their job.” He recently said, “They’re shutting down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health care to many Americans.”
Speaker of the House, Sen. Harry Reid (NV) maintains that “the Senate will reject both the one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act and the repeal of the medical device tax.”
What are Republicans saying?
The right wing is split on this issue. The members that identify more with the Tea Party movement, like Sen. Ted Cruz (TX), have been calling for a government shutdown since 2010. They are very excited about the prospect of government inactivity. More moderate Republicans like Rep. Peter King (NY) disagree, saying that holding out for the upcoming October 17 debt ceiling fight would have been a better strategy.
But the government is broken anyway! What does it matter if it shuts down?
Most people that make this argument are mixing up the inefficiency of Congress with government inefficiency. There are plenty of things that the government is doing right. Also, federal workers should not pay the price for discord in Washington.
Why should I care?
If the government is unable to pay its bills, it actually cannot afford to keep many of its agencies running. Some of the agencies affected include the Center for Disease Control, National Parks and Monuments like Yosemite and the Statue of Liberty, and even the National Zoo (no more panda cam!). They also can’t pay out small business loans or process citizenship requests. This has led to about 800,000 federal workers being furloughed.
Useful Vocab
1) Furlough- A furlough is when economic conditions force employers to put their employees on temporary unpaid, involuntary leave. Many people who are furloughed have to look for other jobs and ways to make money.
2) Continuing Resolution (CR)- legislation to fund the government if a formal funding bill hasn’t been passed by the end of the fiscal year.
3) Debt Ceiling- a Congressionally determined limit on how much the government can borrow in order to pay its bills