Government shutdown just over a week away if Congress fails to act

A government shutdown could be just over a week away from Feb. 21. However, there isn’t much work being done to avoid a shutdown on Capitol Hill because neither chamber of Congress is in Washington. The Senate is out until Feb. 26 and the House is out until Feb. 28. 

There will be a partial shutdown if Congress fails to approve funding for certain departments by March 1. The departments that would be impacted include:

• Agriculture.
• Energy-Water.
• Military Construction-Veterans Affairs.
• Transportation-Housing and Urban Development.

If members don’t pass any funding by March 8, there will be a total shutdown when all remaining departments run out of money.

President Biden was not happy about Congress’ recess after lawmakers failed to make a deal on funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. 

“Two weeks. What are they thinking? My god, this is bizarre,” President Biden said. “And it’s just reinforcing all the concern, and almost, I won’t say panic, but real concern about the United States being a reliable ally.”

Negotiators will still speak over the phone and hold a few in-person meetings, but the recess drags out the process.

“People are predicting a shutdown even if it’s just for a few days,” one Republican lawmaker said, according to Axios.

Government funding can come in two forms: a formal budget bill that officially sets spending levels for 2024, or a continuing resolution, which is an agreement to maintain funding at the same levels as in 2023 until a final deal is reached.

The Pentagon is raising concerns about the negative impacts of a shutdown. 

“This brinkmanship creates uncertainty, increased costs, and delays missions, and most importantly, it’s a distraction for the force,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said.  

Singh said continuing resolutions also harm national security. 

“If you add up the total time spent under a CR going back to 2011, we’ve spent nearly five years under CRs,” Singh said. “That puts our national security at risk and prevents the department from modernizing as we continue to be constrained to existing funding levels and prevented from launching new programs.”

Due to a previous agreement between House Republicans and the White House, if no formal budget deal is finalized by April 30 there will be an automatic 1% spending cut across the board. 

According to Punchbowl, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., recently met with both conservative members who are demanding spending cuts and moderates on the Appropriations Committee who are willing to compromise. 

Punchbowl reported conservative hardliners proposed that Republicans should either force a government shutdown or pass a full-year continuing resolution to ensure a 1% cut in government spending. Meanwhile, lawmakers referred to as “Appropriations Committee cardinals” countered, calling a government shutdown “idiotic” and arguing it would harm House Republicans.

Democrats and many Senate Republicans want to approve a spending deal that falls in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the law from June 2023 which will trigger an automatic 1% cut across the board. However, House conservatives don’t think the cuts included in the act go far enough, so they have blocked any spending bill that follows its guidelines.