What Is A Government Shutdown?
A government shutdown refers to a state of government whereby the non-essential discretionary federal activities are disrupted. It is caused by political impasses that lead to the failure of Congress to allocate finances for the national government’s operations in the next fiscal year. According to Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti who served in the 1980s, government shutdowns are a result of funding gaps that last more than a few hours. They not only affect federal governments but also include operational shutdowns at state and local levels.
Examples Of Government Shutdowns In US History
The first example of a US government shutdown that took place between 1995 and 1996 under President Bill Clinton’s administration. It lasted for 21 days and was caused by opposition to major cuts in government expenditure. Another shutdown occurred in the year 2013 during President Barack Obama administration. This shutdown lasted 16 days having been caused by a political impasse regarding the implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act; also called Obamacare. On one hand, some politicians supported the project as it would increase access to medical care by millions of Americans. On the other hand, opposers of the implementation of the bill felt that it would increase government spending. The third example of a government shutdown occurred between 2018 and 2019 under Donald Trump’s administration lasting 35 days. The history of this shutdown dates back to the current US president’s campaigns when he promised to build a 2,000-mile Mexico-US border wall. According to him, this wall was the solution to the increase in Mexican immigrants in the past decade. The budget allocation secured for the project so far is $9.8 billion, although the estimated total amount of funds needed to complete the project is about $70 billion. This most recent government shutdown is a result of the stalling of the Mexico-US border wall project with Trump’s government demanding $5 billion to continue with the construction of the wall which is presently at 66 miles. On the other hand, Congress refuses to allocate these funds as some of the Democrats oppose the implementation of the project. The 2018-2019 government shutdown is the longest government shutdown ever experienced in the US. Thus, these examples are evidence that government shutdowns are a reality within the US government.
Impact Of Government Shutdowns
The first impact of government shutdowns is the furloughing of government employees resulting in loss of labor. In some cases, these workers are prohibited from even accessing their emails while they take a forced temporary leave of absence. Secondly, these shutdowns also influence a country’s economic growth and development. For example, the 2013 US government shutdown resulted in slowing down GDP growth by 0.1% to 0.2% translating into a loss of over $24 billion. Additionally, depending on the magnitude of the government shutdowns, effects may vary from reduced investments to deferred maintenance costs, closure of institutions, air travel delays, and delayed regulatory approvals among many others.
