U.S. Flirts with Shutdown
By: Samantha Lee, BITS Newsletter Graphic Designer
Bits by BITS: Fall ’23, Issue №1
On Saturday afternoon, just hours before funding expires at 12:01 A.M. On Sunday, October 1st, the House of Representatives did something remarkable: they passed a bipartisan bill to keep the government funded for forty-five days while a future deal was hashed out. By a vote of 335–91, the House cleared the two-thirds supermajority threshold required to pass bills without rules. On Saturday night, the Senate voted 88–9 to pass the bill. 60 votes were needed to break a filibuster. President Biden is expected to sign this bill to keep the government funded. With a passed budget in place, the federal government will continue. So why do we care about shutdowns? How do they affect us? What would’ve happened to the economy?
As previous shutdowns have shown, government shutdowns hold significant consequences that affect the average population. Beyond costing the American economy billions of dollars — food assistance, military, and travel are also affected. The shutdown can end up disrupting various sectors of society, ultimately impacting our economy and potentially the nation’s security.
During a government shutdown, most federal employees do not receive pay, whether working or furloughed, causing financial strain for many employees and their families with food stamps and programs like SNAP. Containment funds exist to keep aid disbursements present, but most will not hold over a month, meaning a protracted shutdown of a month or more could heavily impact those on food benefits.
While a short-lived shutdown may not significantly impact government debt service payments and is not expected to disrupt the economy, a prolonged shutdown can have economic repercussions.
