What Does a Government Shutdown Really Mean?
By Robert Rojas
The United States government controls much of what we as Americans do on a day-to-day basis. The money impoverished families receive for food assistance, the retirement fund for Americans 65 and older, even the protection we receive from the Department of Defense against other countries: they are all controlled by the government. What would we do if one day all these services were to disappear?
A government shutdown happens when Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives) fails to compromise with itself and the President to approve a budget, forcing many federal agencies to stop operations or even work without payment.
As of October 2nd, the United States is still in a government shutdown as lawmakers argue over how to fund our essential programs, like healthcare and defense.
The way the government funds itself is that Congress passes 12 major spending bills every year, called “appropriations bills.” These bills fund federal agencies such as NASA, the Department of Education, and the National Park Service. If those bills aren’t passed by the start of the new fiscal year, which is October 1st, many agencies run out of money.
Without funding, “non-essential” government operations stop. “Essential” services such as the military, air traffic control, and emergency medical care still operate, but usually without pay for the workers.
Examples include how federal workers like TSA agents, park rangers, and scientists might not get paid. As a result, national parks such as the Everglades, Yellowstone, and Grand Canyon National Park would be off-limits. Passport applications and tax refunds are also delayed. Even research grants, federal nutrition programs, or public housing programs could be affected.
“I didn’t know what a government shutdown was before, and now that I do know, I think that we should have access to money for these basic things, no matter what’s happening. Government shutdowns should be a very extreme last-case scenario, and not normalized,” remarked sophomore Sebastian Martinez.
Even if this all feels sort of distant to you, there are ways this affects all of us. A good example is FAFSA, the financial aid for college, which many MLEC students rely on to fund their college education after high school. With a government shutdown, FAFSA could be delayed for weeks if not months.
For families that rely on food assistance from the government, they could see the money needed to eat for the month come in a week late. If your parents work for a government agency, they cannot be paid until politicians in Washington settle disagreements.
“It’s really unsettling that politicians having essentially petty arguments can affect our country that much, to where people don’t have basic access to basic necessities like EBT,” said senior Charlesia Davis.
Government shutdowns are not a rare occurrence. These things happen practically on every fiscal year’s end. But it shouldn’t be normalized. Shutdowns usually happen when Congress is divided and can’t agree on how much money to spend or what programs to fund. Sometimes one party tries to use the budget as leverage to push their policies.
It’s become more common in recent decades as politics have become more polarized. It speaks truly to how important the link between politics and your day-to-day life is. Even if it feels like politics is just a distant topic in the news, a government shutdown is a reminder that decisions made in Washington, D.C., can reach all the way to our classrooms.
