Alan Zendell, September 28, 2023

In less than three days our government will “shut down.” I put that in quotes because it’s not a phrase that can be taken literally. An article by the Brookings Institution explains that the Antideficiency Act makes it illegal for federal agencies to spend or obligate any money without approval from Congress. If any of the 12 annual appropriation bills that fund federal agencies are not passed and signed by the president by the start of the new fiscal year, (October 1, 2023,) every agency not funded must cease all non-essential functions, though the definition of non-essential is up to each agency head.

Since debating and appropriating government funding is the primary role of Congress, a shutdown represents a total failure of Congress to do its job, although to be fair, the Senate has done its part impressively, and in the process demonstrated that bipartisan government can still work when lawmakers remember that they are elected and paid to uphold our Constitution and act in the best interest of the country.

Beyond that, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell upbraided his party’s caucus in the House of Representatives for their failure to act. McConnell said, correctly, that a government shutdown accomplishes nothing. I was a federal employee during the last three shutdowns, so I can confirm that there is no upside but considerable downside. Millions of federal employees and contractors don’t get paid during a shutdown, but they all receive full paychecks for the shutdown period as soon as it ends. The only real impact on them is being locked out of their offices when there is important work to be done.

The real harm is suffered by people who depend on federal programs, and to a lesser degree, by federal law enforcement and the military. Consider the war In Ukraine. A long government shutdown will affect our ability to support Ukraine against Russia, but even a short one has the effect of weakening us, both at home and internationally. Our allies can’t count on us when an extremist fringe is able to turn our policies upside down whenever they please. And no one will be happier about a shutdown of our government than Vladimir Putin. He smells weakness and instability like the predator he is, and he knows that the more Donald Trump’s influence grows the more his own power is enhanced.

McConnell implied but didn’t say explicitly that a shutdown can only result when extremists in his party put politics and power ahead of their sworn duty. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries characterized them as trying to shove their right-wing fringe politics down the throats of the large majority of Americans who oppose their views. Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who has assumed the role of outspoken leader of the group, behaves as if he believes he was elected for the sole purpose of disrupting and paralyzing the government.

Gaetz is carrying Donald Trump’s water in the House. He and his mob believe that Trump so dominates the Republican Party that remaining in his favor is their only priority. The only thing they care about is helping Trump win re-election, despite the fact that he is under indictment by two states and the U. S. Department of Justice for nearly a hundred felonies including conspiracy to overthrow the government, and a New York State judge confirmed, yesterday, that Trump’s businesses have operated fraudulently for decades.

Trump is famous for his delaying tactics and his ability to create chaos, and the Gaetz gang believe they can use the same techniques to win. But Trump is also famous for stabbing his loyalists in the back when he no longer needs them. Gaetz is clearly not as smart as he thinks.

The shutdown drama was reaching its peak in the midst of the Republicans’ second presidential debate. Voters may have hoped to hear meaningful policy discussions, but all they heard was a bunch of unimpressive also-rans screaming at each other. With a government shutdown looming, the debate was a perfect opportunity for any of them to demonstrate leadership and a commitment to the nation’s priorities by addressing the state of affairs in the House and the failure of their own Majority Leader to control his caucus. But not one of them had the courage to mention the issue, nor would they address the fact that the leader of their party is a dangerous criminal and a gangster.

If there’s any chance of saving our future, it depends on all of us honestly asking how we got to this place. How is it that a narcissistic hate-monger controls one of our major parties and the rest of our politicians act like craven cowards whenever he speaks? How is it that hate crimes and mass shootings have hit an all-time high in America? If you think those things are unrelated, I suggest you rethink it.