Where’s Congress? Capitol Hill empty one week out from government shutdown
The United States Senate was in session for a total of 29 seconds on Monday; that’s 29 seconds longer than the House of Representatives. The Capitol building is nearly empty a week away from a government shutdown. It makes one wonder, if failing to fund the government is as harmful to the American people and the economy as lawmakers say it is, why aren’t they in D.C.?
Congress is on recess
Congress is taking a prescheduled recess this week for Rosh Hashanah. The day they left, the House passed and the Senate quickly rejected a seven-week continuing resolution. Government funding currently expires on Sept. 30.
The House originally scheduled to return on Monday, Sept. 29, but Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pushed that back until at least Oct. 30, at which time the government will already have run out of money and shut down. Johnson is hoping this will pressure the Senate to approve the continuing resolution as is.
Reports indicate that President Donald Trump, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., are scheduled to meet this week to negotiate.
What has happened during previous government shutdowns?
The federal government has shut down 20 times since 1977. The lapse in funding from December 2019 to January 2020 reduced GDP by approximately $11 billion. It also led to a reduction in services; for instance, the FDA stopped conducting some of its routine inspections.
The 2024/2025 continuing resolution
The federal government has been running on 2024’s budget all of this fiscal year. Congress didn’t approve a proper appropriations package for fiscal year 2025, so they did a near copy-and-paste of the previous budget to operate the government this year. Conservatives don’t like that.
“It’s Biden’s budget. We are renewing Biden’s budget without cutting any of it. And I think elections should have consequences,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told reporters on Friday, Sept. 19. “I don’t think Donald Trump should be operating on Joe Biden’s last budget.”
“We have one job up here, and that’s to pass a budget. We haven’t done it in over 30 years. We need to get some guts,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said.
Democrats want to reverse Medicaid cuts that Republicans approved in July. They also want to extend Obamacare tax credits that help low-income individuals pay their premiums.
“I hope we can make some sort of deal. I hope we can save people’s health insurance,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., told Straight Arrow News. “We are making this about health insurance, and we’ll have to see what happens.”
The votes in both the House and Senate on the continuing resolution fell largely along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor and Democrats voting against. Democrats, citing polling, believe the American people will blame President Trump and Republicans if there’s a government shutdown.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
