73
votes
Accepted
Why does a US government shutdown have a specific beginning time?
The Short Answer
Strictly speaking, you are correct: a government shut down does not involve the government "running out of money." A more accurate statement would be that the government isn't ...
- 1,542
73
votes
Accepted
What are the Republicans' arguments for blaming the Democrats for the shutdown?
Rather than trying to address the claim of who is to blame, I will focus on the part of the question asking for the spefic actions that were taken and give you timeline of events to let you decide for ...
- 3,007
72
votes
How does a shutdown end if an agreement is never reached?
If necessary, Congress can pass a spending bill without the president's support.
Currently Trump claims he will veto any bill which doesn't include funding for the wall. However if two-thirds of each ...
- 3,926
64
votes
Accepted
In the news, it says "essential" government employees would be required to work without pay. How?
First, slavery has literally nothing at all to do with whether or not someone is paid, nor with how much they're paid. Slavery and involuntary servitude are forced labor, not unpaid labor. If you are ...
- 13.8k
59
votes
Accepted
What happens if the shutdown continues until election season?
To address the technical question, FEC will not function during shutdown: https://www.fec.gov/updates/shutdown-announcement-2018/.
Like many federal agencies, the FEC will be unable to provide any ...
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59
votes
Can Congress end the government shutdown without the President's agreement?
If Congress has the 2/3 votes to override a Presidential veto, they can pass any budget they want with zero consideration for what the President thinks. Ever since the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, ...
- 51.4k
52
votes
Accepted
How will shutting the government down enable Trump to build his Mexico border wall?
Forcing a government shutdown doesn't get Trump any budget for anything. It's the threat of a government shutdown with which he hopes to force Congress to cooperate.
A government shutdown happens ...
- 74.6k
41
votes
Accepted
Why would the Senate Majority Leader vote against their own cloture motion to stop a filibuster?
It’s for “procedural reasons to preserve his right to bring the bill up again”.
This article from the Washington Post explains why former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid always seemingly vote ...
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41
votes
What are the Republicans' arguments for blaming the Democrats for the shutdown?
I’m sure there is something that I am missing (certain vote percentages, loopholes, who knows), but to me the logic seems that if Republicans had the ability to pass the funding measure and then didn’...
- 1,542
35
votes
How does a shutdown end if an agreement is never reached?
The government shutdown is caused by a lapse in funding for government operations and agencies.
The Antideficiency Act mandates that the government cannot incur "obligations or the making of ...
- 46.5k
34
votes
How does a shutdown end if an agreement is never reached?
If Congress - House and Senate - cannot agree to a bill with 2/3 majority, two years go by, and there will be new elections for all House seats (and about a third of the Senate). Some voters will be ...
- 827
25
votes
In the USA, why is there still a government shutdown when Congress and the White House are controlled by the same party?
Does it mean that this party is unable to agree between its members in Congress and its President?
This doesn't really have anything to do with the president. Sixty votes is the threshold to invoke ...
- 89.2k
24
votes
Accepted
Will NORAD Santa tracker be affected by the government shutdown?
The NORAD Santa tracker will operate as normal, according to the NORAD official twitter webpage (@Norad_Northcom)
In the event of a government shutdown, NORAD will continue with its
63-year tradition ...
- 2,440
24
votes
What are the Republicans' arguments for blaming the Democrats for the shutdown?
This isn't really that difficult: It's a typical standoff in which neither side wants to budge. Democrats could vote for the wall, but haven't. So, sure, it can be considered at least partially their ...
- 273
19
votes
How will shutting the government down enable Trump to build his Mexico border wall?
Does he not have the power, as President, to overrule the government?
No.
Congress controls the budget. In order to spend money, Donald Trump (or any president) needs Congress to appropriate it. ...
- 89.2k
19
votes
What are the Republicans' arguments for blaming the Democrats for the shutdown?
Passing a spending bill in the Senate requires bi-partisan cooperation because it requires overcoming a 60-vote requirement. The President demanded that any spending bill include a line for $5 ...
- 6,918
17
votes
Accepted
Can't congress override Trump's assumed veto of the temporary spending bill?
They can, with 2/3 majority in both houses (US Constitution, Article 1, Section 7, clause 2)...but they have to agree to actually hold that vote.
Currently, the Senate has indicated that it will not ...
- 186
16
votes
Can Congress end the government shutdown without the President's agreement?
If they were to override his veto, would this end the shutdown, or would the President somehow be able to continue it anyway?
This would end the shutdown.
I wonder if there is any argument that, ...
- 15.6k
15
votes
Are there any theories as to why there is so little public outcry about the US government shutdown?
To put in context that OP could understand, the US federal Government is similar to the government offices of the European union. I'm not saying the function or structure is similar, but I'm ...
- 3,950
14
votes
Downsides to, or pitfalls of legislation that produces a permanent end to government shutdown threats in the US?
We actually have an example of what happens when there is an automatic mechanism to do this sort of thing: the automatic mechanism becomes the norm.
In 2010, the House was won overwhelmingly by ...
- 44.1k
13
votes
Accepted
If conservatives don't like government, why don't they like the shutdown?
The shutdown doesn't really save the government much money. The pay that is currently being withheld from exempted employees is guaranteed to be paid to them once the funding is there, and Congress ...
- 6,570
13
votes
What happens if the shutdown continues until election season?
Elections are run by individual states and are certified by Congress, the core process wouldn't change. The FEC is a regulatory body that focuses primarily on campaign finances, they aren't really ...
- 13.8k
11
votes
Accepted
Why do we pay taxes during a government shutdown?
Shouldn't we get a refund or a part of our taxes back when this happens?
No. When the government is funded again the things they would have paid for anyways would still be paid (i.e. salaries).
...
- 44.1k
11
votes
How does a shutdown end if an agreement is never reached?
Can it last forever?
The shutdown continues until a bill passes both houses and is either enactes by the president or passed through the veto override procedure. Theoretically, the stalemate could ...
- 1,542
10
votes
Are there any theories as to why there is so little public outcry about the US government shutdown?
There are a few things to realize about the US governmental system, that Europeans often don't get. The first is that these shutdowns are not that unusual. There have been shutdowns of some kind under ...
- 14.6k
10
votes
Downsides to, or pitfalls of legislation that produces a permanent end to government shutdown threats in the US?
If the description in Politico is accurate, then the bill is a non-starter. Here's how the article you linked describes the bill:
Their bill would trigger two-week stopgap bills and require Congress ...
- 1,705
9
votes
What does DACA have to do with the government shutdown?
The thing being blocked is actually a continuing resolution (CR) for appropriations and not a budget. See this answer or this editorial for details.
To answer the core of the question, Democrats have ...
- 773
9
votes
Accepted
Why did Sen. McConnell object to Sen. McCaskill's resolution to fund the military during the government shutdown?
His objection was on the grounds that he was expecting a quick resolution to the government shutdown. As he said on the floor of the Senate when Ms. McCaskill's resolution was made [1]:
We passed ...
- 27.8k
9
votes
Why did Trump willingly take blame for shutdown?
He is doubling down on his wall commitment. For years we have heard mister Trump speak about the border wall, it has been one of his major campaigning points. When you talk about the wall you ...
JJJ♦
- 38.7k
9
votes
Accepted
Do non-working, non-essential US Gov't employees get back paid for time not worked?
Yes, Congress passed a bill requiring all federal employees, including furloughed workers, be paid retroactively after the government reopens. The bill was signed into law by President Trump.
The ...
- 46.5k
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