#automatic continuing resolution

Brian Bengs:

Our country is once again barreling toward another government shutdown in a routine so familiar it’s almost comical. In just the last fifteen years, we have had three full shutdowns (2013, 2018, and 2018/19) and five near misses (2018, 2020, 2020 again, and 2024), with the 2018/19 shutdown alone costing taxpayers $11 billion. Here we are again, mere days before the shutdown, while congressional leaders Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, John Thune, and Mike Johnson plan to meet tomorrow (September 29). The President is threatening mass firings of federal workers, and the House is scheduled to meet at noon on the 30th, leaving less than 12 hours for Congress to avoid a shutdown. With Republicans seemingly attempting to force a shutdown by rejecting Democrats’ healthcare funding concerns (which, to be fair, are well-founded), the legislative branch has been debased to a game of chicken. Despite it all, the truth is that if Washington can always find a way to hand out tax cuts to billionaires and corporations, then they can certainly come together to keep the government running while protecting people’s healthcare. It doesn’t have to be this dysfunctional. I believe that two major changes can ensure the government remains funded and functional without approaching shutdown every year: procedural changes in the budget-making process and Independent federal representatives, thereby depriving either party of a majority. Independents can pressure both parties to do better because the American people deserve solutions, not manufactured crises.

How’d We Get Here?

The Anti-Deficiency Act (ADA), initially adopted in 1884, prohibits federal government agencies from spending funds that Congress has not appropriated. Before 1980, government agencies were allowed to operate between appropriations bills under the assumption that funding would come later. However, in 1980/81, the Attorney General issued stricter legal opinions that interpreted the ADA as requiring agencies to cease “non-essential” operations until Congress passed the next fiscal year’s appropriations bills. Congress is supposed to pass 12 annual appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. This rarely happens. Instead, Congress often relies on temporary funding bills called continuing resolutions (CRs), which maintain current spending levels while extending the deadline. When these CRs expire without a new budget in place, the government shuts down. In good faith, this process allows for compromise and negotiation, but our dysfunctional political system has enabled the budget process to be hijacked.

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Why Do Shutdowns Keep Happening?

The primary driver behind the ever-increasing frequency of government shutdowns in the past decade is the deepening political divide between the two major parties. With majorities being razor-thin and neither side willing to compromise (which, given what’s at stake, is understandably difficult), it is a better strategy for parties to hold their ground rather than come to the table. The problem of this political divide is exacerbated by reactionary culture war issues dominating political discussions in Congress. Budget bills may be the battlefield, but the actual ideological battle is somewhere else. For the 2018/19 shutdown, it was border security, and this year it’s healthcare. Once the shutdown becomes tied to something other than funding and budgetary matters, it becomes a tool in a dysfunctional political toolbox. Similarly, non-fiscal issues have become the focal point of shutdown discussions, while the modern 24-hour news cycle heightens the drama of political disputes. This especially emboldens politicians who thrive on public attention, but it negatively impacts all federal representatives. The optics of appearing unyielding can vastly outweigh the consequences of a shutdown, making shutdowns more of a theatrical performance than a good-faith negotiation. [...]

How Do We Stop Future Shutdowns?

Removing shutdowns from the strategic toolbox of American politics requires significant changes in both the structural and personal aspects of the budget-making process. As an Independent Senator from South Dakota, I would push for these reforms to build better incentives that would prevent government shutdowns from being manipulated and misused. The yearly and non-negotiable nature of appropriations bills creates a predictable time bomb that Congress can exploit. To fix this, I support the implementation of an “automatic continuing resolution” (ACR). This would maintain the government’s current funding levels if Congress fails to pass new appropriations bills by the deadline. ACRs would prevent shutdowns from being used in political negotiations and ensure that government services and agencies can continue to operate. Currently, there are no consequences for lawmakers themselves when they allow shutdowns to occur. A policy that imposes immediate personal consequences on lawmakers, such as withholding their salaries and barring political fundraising, would incentivize them to take action to pass appropriations bills. Combined with ACRs that would keep individual government employees paid, only Congress would be negatively affected by this policy if it fails to do its job.