They’ve Done It Again…Kicked the Can Down the Road

On Tuesday (the 14th), the House of Representatives passed Speaker Mike Johnson’s stop-gap spending bill to keep the government open. Johnson’s plan “…extends federal funding at current levels for one group of agencies and programs through Jan. 19, and a second batch through Feb. 2.”¹ In essence, this plan delays the government shutdown until after the first of the new year. Since the House passed it Tuesday, the Senate has also passed the plan and President Biden has signed it into law.

So…there are roughly two months now in which the various representatives and senators can wrangle over spending levels with no certainty that both legislative bodies will compromise. Meaning that in about two months we will be at the same place with a government shutdown looming.

There are however, a couple of well meaning senators who have a plan that can be put in place to avoid this kind of budget brinkmanship. Maggie Hasan (D-NH) and James Lankford (R-OK) are seeking an amendment to budget procedures so that “…if Congress fails to pass one (a budget), a stopgap status quo spending bill is triggered every two weeks, and Congress is forbidden from leaving Washington until a budget is passed.”²

There are really only two reasons that a solution like this cannot be passed…but they are whoppers! The first reason lies with the tried and true strategy for increasing funding for various interests that has been used ad infinitum in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. If Representative So-and-so wants a spending bill passed or increased in the interests of one said Representative’s constituents, then the Representative just holds the budget bill hostage until his particular spending bill is passed as a part of it.

The second and more important reason that it is likely that nothing like Hasan and Lankford’s solution will be passed is because the prospect of a government shutdown is a wonderful way to paint your opposing party’s governance as inept and corrupt. In other words, it’s a great club for the Democrats to use to bludgeon the political heads of the Republicans, and vice versa.

Sadly, it is likely that narrow political advantage and grasping political power will win the day in the House and the Senate (with the President’s complicity) so that the best interests of the country will be lost in the Congressional/Presidential wrangle. In our view this is Congressional misconduct of the highest order. But, as stated in an earlier blog, Congressional misconduct is what we, the people of the United States, have made the order of the day because we have elected these representatives.

One of the solemn responsibilities that we intend to shoulder here at IVoteMyVote.com is to remedy this situation. We seek to inform voters so that they are aware of the views and policies of the people that are running for Congress and other offices so that we can save the country from disaster. As long as we continue to elect Democratic party politicians who have no interest in fiscal responsibility and as long as we continue to elect Republican politicians who cannot discern the immediate and dire best interests of the country as whole, then we are doomed to continue this governmental death spiral.

1. Quinn, M. (2023). House passes short-term funding plan to avert government shutdown. CBSNews.com. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2023-government-shutdown-house-vote-today/
2. Cooper, R. (2023). There’s an Easy Way to End Government Shutdowns Forever. Prospet.org. Retrieved from https://prospect.org/politics/2023-09-27-end-government-shutdowns-forever/

1. What is the recent action taken by the House of Representatives regarding government funding?

• On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a stop-gap spending bill proposed by Speaker Mike Johnson. This bill extends federal funding at current levels for certain agencies and programs through Jan. 19, and for another batch through Feb. 2, effectively delaying a government shutdown until after the new year.

2. Are there any proposed solutions to avoid budget brinkmanship and prevent future government shutdowns?

• Senators Maggie Hasan (D-NH) and James Lankford (R-OK) have proposed an amendment to budget procedures. Under this proposal, if Congress fails to pass a budget, a stopgap spending bill would be triggered every two weeks, and Congress would be forbidden from leaving Washington until a budget is passed.

3. What are the potential obstacles to implementing Hasan and Lankford’s proposed solution?

• One major obstacle is the strategy of using spending bills to secure increased funding for various interests, which has been a common practice in both the House and the Senate. Additionally, the prospect of a government shutdown is often exploited for political gain, making it difficult to achieve bipartisan consensus on reforming budget procedures.