The temporary restraining order against hyperbolic fiscal disaster narratives is ending. The stopgap expires on November 17th. Elected officials, bureaucrats, talking heads, and empty heads will be prognosticating doom if America can’t find a way to fund the general government.
In other words, in two weeks, the government will Shutdown™ unless Congress manages to do its job. And if you think that’s something members of Congress want, you’d be correct. But they shouldn’t, not because of the lies about the vulnerable. Nothing critical stops working, and everyone else gets a paid vacation unless they don’t work for the government.
Air travel, tourism, medical research and many other sectors that rely on government services are greatly hampered by shutdowns. The last government shutdown, lasting 35 days in 2018, cost the economy an estimated $11 billion.
Whether you believe that or not, someone had an idea. What if we passed a law that eliminated the hyperbolic circus of shutdown narratives and forced Congress to get the job done? Pass appropriations bills, preferably clean and by the department. New Hampshire Democrat Senator Maggie Hassan signed on to a bipartisan proposal that tried to do that.
Upon a lapse in government funding, the bill would implement an automatic continuing resolution (CR), on rolling 14-day periods, based on the most current spending levels enacted in the previous fiscal year. This would prevent a shutdown and continue critical services and operations.
During the covered period of an automatic CR, the following restrictions are put in place:
- No taxpayer-funded travel allowances for official business (except one flight to return to Washington, DC) for the following:
- White House OMB staff and leadership
- Members of the House and Senate
- Committee and personal staff of the House and Senate
- No official funds may be used for CODEL or STAFFDEL travel
- No use of campaign funds by congressional offices to supplement official duties or travel expenses
- No motions to recess or adjourn in the House/Senate for a period or more than 23 hours
In addition, under the bill, no other votes would be in order in the House and Senate unless they pertain to passage of the appropriations bills or mandatory quorum calls in the Senate. However, after 30 days under the automatic CR, certain expiring authorization bills and executive calendar nominations would be eligible for consideration on the Senate floor, including a nomination for a Justice of the Supreme Court or a Cabinet Secretary, and narrow reauthorization legislation for programs operating under an authorization that has already expired or will expire within the next 30 days.
These restrictions can be waived by a two-thirds vote in either chamber but not for longer than seven days.
Hassan, an otherwise reliable rubber stamp for Team Donkey, said
“Government shutdowns waste taxpayer dollars and put our nation at risk, and we need to avoid them whenever possible,” said Hassan. “This commonsense bill incentivizes Congress to fund the government on time and ensures that there is a plan in place to protect families and our economy if Congress cannot come to agreement.”
I can’t say if it was a clean bill. That someone didn’t pack something untoward within its pages to kill it, but it died. It needed 60 votes to pass, but only nine Democrats would join every Republican to support it. Senator Hassan voted yes for her bill, but the Granite State’s Senior Senator, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, was a no. I checked the latter’s Senate website but could not find a statement on the legislation or the vote, but Jeanne voted with the majority of her party.
They voted for hyperbolic shutdown antics instead of a requirement that they, Congress, stop using the budget process to score political points.
That’s worth knowing the next time Senator Shaheen sidles up to a microphone to badger her Republican colleagues about politicizing the process.
They all voted yes to stop doing that. She voted no.
