A government shutdown happens when the Congress fails to enact funding legislation to finance the federal budget before the existing fiscal year ends. In a shutdown, agencies curtail their activities and services, furlough non-essential workers, retain only those who directly protect human life and property, and delay new initiatives. Government employees, like other private sector employees, don’t get paid during a shutdown but they typically receive back pay once the government reopens. Government shutdowns are expensive. They cost taxpayers billions in lost revenue, from user fees and charges that aren’t collected during a shutdown, to the price of contractors padding their bids to factor in the possibility of a CR.
Shutdowns also cost taxpayers a fortune in the form of stress and a loss of morale. Many federal workers are mission driven and invested in the work they do – from weather forecasting to GDP statistics to cybersecurity – and being forced to go without paychecks is a gut punch to their morale. The last shutdown cost the economy $11 billion in lost output – with $3 billion that it never recovered.
Congress must end the brinksmanship and pass a clean, bipartisan Continuing Resolution. Democrats should join Republicans and a growing coalition of responsible leaders to do so. Instead, they’re using this crisis as leverage to push far left policy demands that have nothing to do with keeping the government open and operating. The American people deserve better than this.
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