As the 2014 fiscal year, beginning on October 1, looms not-so-distantly on the American horizon, the threat of a government shutdown looms even more imminently over Washington D.C.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), took to the chamber floor yesterday through noon today, approximately 21 hours, in an attempt to delay Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) from stripping out a piece of budgetary legislation that would directly defund the Affordable Care Act — aka Obamacare — and send the bill back to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
But a government shutdown is still a possibility despite any progress made in the Senate today. A stopgap measure must be passed by October 1 in order to keep all civilian federal employees working for their paycheck. CNN said it best, noting that the resolution will now be pushed “through the chamber’s procedural labyrinth.” Due to the severe complexity of the entire process, we’ve compiled a water cooler guide to help you understand what exactly a government shutdown entails.
What exactly is a government shutdown?
A government shutdown occurs when the legislature can’t agree on a budget to fund the federal government. During this time, all non-essential federal employees are subject to be put on furlough, unless you’re in the military, in which case you may not receive your paycheck in a timely manner.
What’s the difference between essential and non-essential employees?
This is a difficult distinction to make and a confusing one if you happen to be employed by the federal government. Only the Office of Management and Budget has the authority to decide what is and isn’t going to be shut down, but essential employees are generally classified as those who provide essential services to everyday life like, for example, police, firemen, National Weather Service, postal workers, military personnel, and utilities.
What’s all this talk about a filibuster?
As mentioned above, Texas Senator Ted Cruz attempted a filibuster in hopes of delaying a procedural vote to push the budget proposal through the Senate. That being said, a procedural vote still occurred and a vote — expected to take place on Friday or Saturday — could keep the budget intact and avoid a shutdown.
The Senate subsequently employed the use of the procedural vote to further debate the bill after Senator Cruz exhausted all of his wind. Since Senator Reid already has the necessary votes needed to go through with his stripping of the defunding language included in the text, it appears Senator Cruz’s attempt at a filibuster may have been in vain.
During his filibuster attempt, Senator Cruz used oft-cited and ever-influential quotes from pop culture institutions like the best-selling short story and acclaimed piece of American literature Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, as well as the beloved imaginary film franchise Star Wars.
Has the government ever shutdown before?
Yes, twice technically. Once in 1995 and once in 1996, combined for a total of 28 days. This took place under the Clinton administration when a similar budgetary issue flared up between the Republican-controlled congress and the Democratic presidential administration.
President Clinton wanted to allocate a certain amount of the budget for education, the environment, Medicare, and public health though Speaker of the House and now-CNN showstopper Newt Gingrich refused to raise the debt limit to accommodate Clinton’s proposal.
What are the effects of a government shutdown?
In the case of the Clinton administration’s shutdown, the government was out roughly $400 million to cover its furloughed employees alone for the 28 days. CNN, though, estimates a total cost of $1.4 billion during that time.
It doesn’t cost the government money, but a shutdown can also directly affect those who don’t work under the yolk of Uncle Sam. For example, every single national park, national zoo, and national museum is completely closed to the public.
It’s important to note too that while those on furlough aren’t paid immediately, members of Congress continue to earn a paycheck on time because their salaries are only altered by law.
The President’s Obamacare, which is slated to be enacted on the same October 1 deadline for a balanced budget, will still be implemented even if a shutdown takes place, an irony in that the Affordable Care Act is the epicenter of this entire debate.
Bottom line
The Senate will continue to debate and vote on the budget until this weekend, at which time the ball bounces in the House’s court. The House will then have about one day or so to either accept or reject the legislation. Usually some kind of compromise is reached to prohibit this kind of shutdown. This plays into the surely subsequent debate as to whether or not to raise the federal debt ceiling as previous temporary measures have been nearly exhausted, rendering only $30 billion for the Treasury Department come October 17. That amount, $30 billion, happens to be approximately the same amount of money that sits pretty in Harvard University’s endowment.
Stay tuned to BostInno for the latest information regarding the federal budget, the debt ceiling, and the implementation (or lack thereof) of the Affordable Care Act. In the meantime, feel free to respectfully share all of your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below.
