Nearing a government shutdown, with under 24 hours left, Senate Republicans and Democrats find themselves in a tense deadlock, having made no headway in their funding discussions. Following a crucial meeting between President Donald Trump and congressional leaders on Monday, which yielded no agreements, Vice President J.D. Vance attributed the fault to Democrats.
“I believe a shutdown is imminent because the Democrats are unwilling to act appropriately,” stated , underscoring that disagreements over policy ought not to serve as “a justification for halting the government and all its crucial services.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has maintained his unwavering stance against the proposed funding bill unless specific guarantees are met, including the continuation of Obamacare tax credits. “The ball is now in the President’s court. He has the power to prevent a shutdown if he persuades the Republican leader to accept our demands,” Schumer remarked on Monday.
As Tuesday’s midnight deadline for government funding draws near, attention is shifting to the potential implications of a shutdown and its historical precedents.
Although ideally prevented due to their capacity to interrupt crucial services, government shutdowns are, in fact, not rare occurrences in the U.S. Since 1980, there have been 14 such events, with the latest happening during Trump’s initial presidential term.
When did the last government shutdown happen?
Trump’s first term saw three government shutdowns. The final one began in late 2018 and extended through the holiday period.
Most government operations ceased for an extensive 34 days, from December 22 to January 25, establishing it as the longest instance of its kind in U.S. history. This duration surpassed the prior record of 21 days, established during President Bill Clinton’s administration.
According to a Congressional Budget Office , the partial shutdown during the 2018 holiday period “postponed roughly $18 billion in federal discretionary outlays for salaries and procurements of goods and services, and interrupted several federal services.”
Moreover, of federal employees were unpaid during that timeframe, with many .
Among the departments where employees were subjected to mandatory furlough were NASA, the Department of Transportation, the IRS, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
What led to the last government shutdown?
The shutdown resulted from a dispute concerning the $5.7 billion in funding sought by Trump for the construction of a barrier along the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
Much to Trump’s displeasure, the Senate did not approve a bill incorporating the requested border wall funding. While a minimum of 60 affirmative Senate votes was necessary, Democrats refused to compromise on the border wall allocation, a venture estimated by Democrats to incur costs of up to $70 billion for construction and $150 million annually for upkeep.
Trump had earlier warned of initiating a shutdown. In July 2018, he declared via social media: “I would be prepared to ‘close down’ the government if Democrats deny us the votes for border security, which encompasses the wall!”
In January 2019, Schumer vehemently opposed Trump’s position, asserting: “We must not use hundreds of thousands, indeed millions, of Americans as bargaining chips to force an outcome by banging the table. That is inconsistent with how our government operates.”
Eventually, amidst the unrest, Trump enacted legislation to provide temporary government funding until February 15, 2019, yet the issue of border wall financing remained unresolved.
Just prior to the February 15 deadline, , allocating merely $1.4 billion for wall construction, a sum considerably lower than Trump’s initial projections.
