On Monday the US government shutdown reached its 20th day. With this recent shutdown, it becomes the longest full government shutdown in the nation’s history. The shutdown began on October 1. House Speaker Mike Johnson is holding Congress’ feet to the fire for as long as possible with no end in sight. This costly and disruptive deadlock has raised alarms about the impacts on federal workers and essential federal functions.
Since the shutdown began, the House of Representatives has not completed a single piece of legislative business. Their final session was on September 19. Johnson has been a fierce advocate of his approach. He thinks it’s an important strategy to force Senate Democrats to go along with the House’s clean continuing resolution, devoid of any policy riders. As with past votes, it has again fallen short on an unfortunate and deeply frustrating 60-vote Democratic filibuster.
As of Monday, the effects of the shutdown went to a new level. And the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has begun furloughing roughly 1,400 federal employees. These workers are key to sustaining and modernizing the US nuclear weapon stockpile. US energy secretary Chris Wright will be holding an impromptu press conference from Las Vegas later today. He intends to speak to the continual furloughs in his speech.
As serious as the length of this current shutdown is, it is serious for what it means. This shutdown, which is now the third-longest considering partial shutdowns, leaves it only behind the 35-day partial shutdown that went from Donald Trump’s first term, from December 2018 to January 2019. The long shutdown already put thousands of federal employees on indefinite furlough and threatened the continuity of critical services.
The political environment around the shutdown is still very much in flux. Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, an outspoken far-right representative from Georgia, savaged Johnson’s strategy, demanding the House return to session today. She urged the blight that is the lack of legislative activity and the need to finish appropriations yesterday.
“The House should be in session working,” – Marjorie Taylor Greene
Johnson has pushed back against these criticisms, attempting to characterize the shutdown as a strategic move meant to put Senate Democrats on defense. He stated, “It is exactly why Chuck Schumer is pandering, in this whole charade. We’ve explained from the very beginning, the shutdown is about one thing and one thing alone: Chuck Schumer’s political survival.”
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told reporters Friday he was optimistic about resolving the impasse soon. As of now, no specific plans have emerged. Democrats have consistently opposed funding for the bill. Most importantly, they insist that it include provisions to extend healthcare subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which will run out at the end of this year.