Shutdown shenanigans

​It’s only May, and there is already chatter about a federal government shutdown in the fall.
 
President Trump tweeted recently – “Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!”
 
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney doubled down on his boss’ words, saying – “The appropriations, the spending process, Congress using the power of the purse has been broken here in Washington for more than ten years. And I think a good shutdown would be one that could help fix that.”
 
This kind of talk is unfortunate and counterproductive. A government shutdown is a disruptive and costly proposition, as past shutdowns have clearly demonstrated. The 16-day shutdown in October, 2013 (fiscal year 2014) caused significant losses in the nation’s economy, halted many government programs and services, kept workers from performing their jobs, delayed federal payments on contracts, prevented collections of fees and other revenues due the government, and caused avoidable costs across the government.
 
Standard & Poor’s estimated the economic cost to the nation of the 2013 shutdown to be $24 billion. The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimated that private sector job growth slowed by about 120,000 jobs during the shutdown. About 6.6 million federal employee work days were lost, according to the Office of Management and Budget.
 
Federal employees were not the only workers who suffered. Federal contractors furloughed thousands of employees. Federal employee salaries were eventually made whole; most furloughed private sector employees were never paid for lost days.
 
Small businesses suffered. Entrepreneurs dependent on a local federal presence, such as tourism-based enterprises operating near a national park or recreation area, lost sales. Janitorial companies on contract to work in federal buildings couldn’t do their jobs. The Small Business Administration couldn’t process or approve new small business loans, stalling a critical driver of economic activity.
 
Director Mulvaney believes that all this could be a cure for the budget problems in Washington. He’s wrong. Another federal government shutdown would be as harmful and costly as prior shutdowns, and it would only deepen Americans’ cynicism and belief in Washington’s dysfunction.
 
Shutdowns are not hard to avoid. If Congress’ work on appropriations is not complete by the beginning of the fiscal year, Congress can pass a simple continuing resolution – continuing current funding levels and policies into the new fiscal year – to allow more time to finish. Maintaining the status quo with a short-term continuing resolution doesn’t have to be controversial.
 
Unfortunately, politicians with their own agendas use continuing resolutions as political footballs, leveraging the threat of a shutdown to try to get what they want. This comes at great expense and is entirely avoidable, but it takes political will and the common sense to recognize the damage shutdowns can cause.