So, what, we’re looking at another possible government shutdown? Don’t tell me; let me guess. It’s because Trump or the Republican party is trying to force something deeply unpopular through Congress. Am I close?
So, what the hell. I went back to look at the shutdowns in more detail. It’s a fun read. I found good summaries in the Washington Post, Fox News, and Vox. Wikipedia was helpful, too, although it had odd omissions and handwaving at some of the more lurid details. So much for groupthink.
First, our history is full of funding gaps as politicians argued things out. People still came to work. Everyone assumed Congress acted in good faith and didn’t really want things to close. Sometimes they had ‘partial government shutdowns,’ but the agencies mostly stayed open. That changed in 1980 when the government reinterpreted the Antideficiency Act. No good-faith working after that, and the real fun began.
So, here we go:
- 1976: President Gerald Ford (R) vetoed the democratic funding bill for the Department of Labor and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). According to the Washington Post, Ford wanted those budgets reduced. Congress overrode his veto the next day, but with all the paperwork, the partial government shutdown lasted 11 days.
- 1977: Shutdowns over federally-funded abortion. There were three separate government shutdowns (12 days, then 8 days, then 8 more days) when the Congressional conservatives and liberals argued over abortion. Note that both the House and Senate had strong Democratic majorities at the time, but the party was more diverse. Eventually, they reached an uncomfortable compromise.
- 1978: President Jimmie Carter’s first government shutdown. Congress funded a nuclear aircraft carrier and some public works. Carter said ‘veto,’ and the veto held. A partial shutdown for 19 days, one of the longest.
- 1979: Abortion and pay raises: The House and Senate argued about pay raises and resumed their earlier abortion argument. Thirteen days and one truly ugly compromise later, the partial shutdown ended.
- 1980: Republicans refused to fund the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This was where the Antideficiency Act was reinterpreted, so it’s the first shutdown where an agency was forced to close. Civil servants were so committed that the feds sometimes sent U.S. Marshals. Why shut down? Republicans wanted to limit who and what the FTC could investigate. Sound familiar? President Carter refused; the agency re-opened that evening. Oddly, Neither the Post, Fox nor Vox list this shutdown.
- 1981: I wanted to include the Air Traffic Controllers’ strike, but it wasn’t a government shutdown, just a government contract. The PATCO strike crippled air traffic for two days before President Ronald Reagan fired them all. That extreme step was one of Reagan’s lasting legacies, and affecting air traffic for the next decade. Still, that was a contract and legal issue, not a shutdown.
- 1981: President Reagan demanded big spending cuts from agencies he didn’t like and furloughed a quarter-million people. After three days, Congress passed a continuing resolution.
- 1982: The “We forgot?” shutdown. Had big dinner reservations? I can’t find a source that has a good explanation for this one. Congress was late with their homework, basically. After a day, they passed a spending bill, and Reagan signed it even though it didn’t have the cuts he wanted.
- 1982: Priorities. Congress wanted more jobs, fewer missiles, and the Legal Services Corporation to help poor people. Reagan wanted more missiles and hated helping the poor. They compromised on no missiles, no jobs, but ‘yes’ on the LSC. Three days.
- 1983: Priorities II. The House (Dem-controlled) passed big school spending, cut foreign aid (except Israel and Egypt), and cut defense. Dems and Republicans compromised, mostly evenly, except for damaging new anti-abortion rules. Three days.
- 1984: More budget fuss.
- Part 1. Congress and President Reagan argued over crime-fighting (Reagan), water projects (Dems), and civil rights (guess). Down for two days before they voted a three- day funding extension.
- Part 2: Three days wasn’t enough time. Dems dropped the water projects, the civil rights bill, allowed Reagan’s Crime bill and funded the Nicaraguan Contras, of all things. It was only a few days, but this furlough hit a half-million people.
- 1986: Welfare expansion. Dems opposed anti-union laws and wanted more Aid for Families with Dependent Children (welfare). Dems gave up most of the union protections in exchange for a promise for a welfare vote (which happened and passed). A half-million people furloughed for half a day.
- 1987: Nicaragua. Dems, holding both houses again, were down on funding the Contras and wanted the Fairness doctrine reinstated. Dems lost Fairness, and Reagan compromised on the Contras. One day.
- 1990: Deficit. President George H. W. Bush only had one shutdown. He threatened to veto any budget that didn’t reduce the deficit. And did. The House failed to override, and both sides compromised. Three days, but during the Columbus Day weekend, which limited the closures to a few offices.
- 1995–96: Clinton v. Gingrich. Rep. Newt Gingrich, elected with his Contract For America, sent President Bill Clinton a budget that hiked Medicare premiums, rolled back environmental protections, cut prisoner appeals, limited safety regulations, and mandated a balanced budget within seven years. There might have been a horsey and a train set in the fine print. Gingrich was high on his victory, and still frosted that Clinton made him leave Air Force One by the back door.
- Furlough, Part 1: Clinton took the dare and vetoed that bill, shutting down the entire government. After five days, Clinton agreed to the 7-year framework, and Congress approved a four-week funding bill at 75 percent levels.
- Part 2: Shut down again when Congress wanted to use the OMB economic forecasts for the budget, but Clinton wanted the CBO forecasts. Swear to god, that was the official reason the government stayed shut for three weeks. Unstated was the pissing contest by Gingrich and Republicans, who hoped to look authoritative. (Yes, I know. Gingrich?) When polls showed that the public blamed Republicans, they folded. Clinton got to use CBO forecasts, and Gingrich’s career tanked. 21 days.
- 2013: The Ted Cruz shutdown. The Republican-controlled Senate refused to fund the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Koch brothers, the Heritage Foundation, the Koch-funded Tea Party, and some of the larger parts of Ted Cruz’s ego may have been involved. (When Republican Sen. Richard Burr suggested that was dumb, conservative groups ran a radio ad against him.) After 16 days and one 21-hour speech by Cruz, Republicans officially folded. The whole thing cost America around $24 billion.
- 2018: Immigration. Democrats tried to force President Donald Trump to allow protections for Dreamers under DACA. The Dems basically folded, trading their votes for a promise of a vote on their immigration bill. Two and a half days. (And they never got that vote, either.)
- 2018: It was only February, but Sen. Rand Paul (R) managed to shut down the federal government for 9 hours all by himself. The primary reason appears to have been with Rand Paul’s ego. A sign for the future?
- 2018–19: No Wall. President Donald Trump wanted his metaphorical wall made real, and wasn’t going to let little things like “It’s freakin’ impossible!” to stop him. Dems, who just regained the House, said no, huh-uh. Despite having a funding bill that had already passed once, Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell kept things bottled up for 35 days. When a bipartisan bill passed without his wall, Trump declared a national emergency. Which was also not a thing. But Trump’s new Supreme Court sided with the President. Down for 35 days.
So, a government shutdown reads like bad political brinkmanship. Usually, the instigator is blamed. That makes sense to anyone who isn’t a party loyalist. If Trump threatens another shutdown, and he’s irrational enough to make a true mess of things, then… I guess he will. There’re many recent precedents.
In the end, I’m not that much better informed but I’m entertained. I hope that’s enough.
