David Childs, Ph.D.
Northern Kentucky University
Introduction
When there is a lot of bi-partisan discord between the executive and legislative branches surrounding passing end of year spending legislation we often begin to hear about the possibility of a government shutdown. It is important that American citizens understand what this means. What makes a democracy successful is when citizens understand their rights and the various processes that take place in the government as well as their civic duties. An important component in operating a well functioning democracy is an educated citizenry.
When Does a Government Shutdown Occur?
A government shutdown takes place in the United States when nonessential offices of the government close due to a lack of approval on the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year. More specifically, when congress fails to pass legislation or the President does not sign an appropriations bill that would fund certain federal government operations and agencies a shutdown occurs. Sometimes the case is that the opposing party in Congress disagrees with the president and refuses to pass the spending legislation. For example, republican senators may refuse to vote for certain spending legislation that a democratic president wants to pass, this would trigger a government shutdown. NOTE: An appropriations bill is legislation in the United States Congress to appropriate federal funds to specific federal government departments, agencies and programs. The money provides funding for operations, personnel, equipment and activities.
If Congress passes all of the spending bills connected to the federal budget, a shutdown can be circumvented. However, if they cannot come to an agreement a government shutdown will occur. A shutdown will close many of the federally funded operations, stopping the work for federal employees that are deemed non-essential. Some non-essential organizations can stay open for a short amount of time running on cash reserves. However, when the reserve funds runs out the organizations close. This sort of stalemate continues until an agreement is reached within Congress or with the President and a budget bill is passed. In the recent shutdown of late fall 2018, President Donald Trump asked for federal funding to build a wall along the Mexican border, but Congress has not been able to pass legislation to support it, this triggered a government shutdown.
Government Shutdowns Have Happened Before
A shutdown is not new to the federal government, but it’s unusual for them to happen when one party controls the White House and Congress; this is the case for the Trump administration. In fact, because of sharp disagreements between both parties on spending, a shutdown has happened three times during his nearly two years in office. The recent shutdown has caused federal employees to be furloughed. This has not happened since 1974.
What are the Effects of a Government Shutdown?
Government shutdowns can affect many of the everyday government processing functions, including recruitment of law enforcement officers and the processing of social security cards and passport applications. Also, some functions of banks are affected by the shutdown, even though they are not government-controlled. Financial institutions cannot access information needed such as income tax records which may impact their ability to process new small business loan applications. Another possible affect might be that, payments from government sources to recipients of veterans’ benefits or unemployment insurance may be temporarily put on hold. In the fall 2018 shutdown triggered by the Trump administration more than 380,000 federal workers have been put on furlough and another 420,000 employees were forced to work without pay.
There can also be indirect effects of a government shutdown. It could impact other sectors of society besides the government, such as the business sector. In the fall 2018 shutdown, more than 380,000 federal workers have been put on furlough and another 420,000 employees were forced to work without pay. When federal workers are on furlough and as a result not spending, this could cause a loss of revenue within the businesses they normally would have patronized. The overall cost and impact on the economy as a result of a furlough can be devastating. Some shutdowns in the past have cost the economy as much as $20 billion, however some may not be as costly. Offices that do not receive funding from Congress can continue operating during a shutdown such as the Federal Reserve, the Post Office, active prison guards, police and firefighters, border patrol agents, air traffic control and active military.
The average US citizen may not understand the ends and outs of a government shutdown; many people may not realize what it means at all. The social studies classroom is a great way to educate students on this aspect of the American government. Below some teacher resources are provided to help social studies teachers create a curriculum highlighting key aspects of government shutdowns.
Teacher Resources/ Lesson Plans
STANDARDS:
- National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)- Standard 6 Power, Authority and Governance: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures of power, authority, and governance.”
- High School Ohio Social Studies Standards: American Government Theme: Students examine the Founding Documents which form the basis for the United States of America and how the American people govern themselves at national, state and local levels of government is the basis for this course. Students may also impact issues addressed by governments through service learning and senior projects.
- Eighth Grade Standard ROLES AND SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT Content Statements: 22. The U.S. Constitution established a federal republic, providing a framework for a national government with elected representatives, separation of powers, and checks and balances. 23. The U.S. Constitution protects citizens’ rights by limiting the powers of government.
Questions for discussion: - What ways can a government shutdown affect the average person?
- What persons or citizens might be affected most by the government shutdown?
- Should Congress be held accountable for the government shutdown?
Teacher Resources/Sample Lessons
Teaching Toolkit: 9 Resources for Discussing the Government Shutdown
https://doingsocialstudies.com/2018/01/22/teaching-toolkit-9-resources-for-discussing-the-government-shutdown/
2013 Government Shutdown – Database of K-12 Resources
https://civics.sites.unc.edu/files/2013/11/Shutdown-Lesson_10.pdf
Five Ways to Teach the Shutdown
https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/five-ways-to-teach-the-shutdown/
Government Shutdown: A Teacher’s Guide
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/daily-videos/government-shutdown-a-teachers-guide/
Need-to-Know: Government Shutdown!
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/2013/09/need-know-government-shutdown/
The Government Shutdown and K-12 Education: Your Guide
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2018/01/government_shutdown_education_your_guide.html
References/Resources
Government Shutdowns Are Rare When One Party Controls White House, Congress. President Trump is On His Third
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/22/government-shutdowns-rare-except-under-president-donald-trump/2396942002/
Government Shutdowns in the United States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_United_States
In Pictures: The Latest Government Shutdown
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/22/politics/gallery/government-shutdown-december-2018/index.html
Here is Every Previous Government Shutdown, Why They Happened and how They Ended
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/25/here-is-every-previous-government-shutdown-why-they-happened-and-how-they-ended/?utm_term=.86403a7e84a3
Schumer Demands Trump ‘Abandon the Wall’ as DC Faces Shutdown Stalemate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schumer-demands-trump-abandon-the-wall-as-dc-faces-shutdown-stalemate
Government Shutdown 2018
https://www.politico.com/latest-news-updates/government-shutdown-2018
What Happens During a Government Shutdown? 7 Things You Should Know
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/what-happens-during-a-government-shutdown-7-things-you-should-know
Why the Government Shutdown Actually Costs Money?
https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2018/01/21/why-the-government-shutdown-actually-costs-money-000624
The government shutdown is here. How does it affect you?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/21/government-shutdown-how-does-affect-you-what-closed/2391079002/
Government Shutdown 2018 and 2013 Explained
https://www.thebalance.com/government-shutdown-3305683
The government shutdown affects too many of the American citizens. The shutdown affects anyone that works for the government. Not only does the employees of the government not get paid, but it affects the stores and multiple services that any average American may need. One of the jobs not mentioned in the article are any TSA agents at any airport, not just border patrol. Thousands of TSA agents are forced to work without pay. I think the people that are mostly affected by a government shutdown are people working for the government. Whether that be a police officer, money printer, TSA agent, post office, firefighters, active military, etc. I don’t think Congress should take full responsibility when everyone in the White House has a say.
This article was very intriguing to me because as a US citizen, I personally had no understanding as to why the government would shut down. I knew the general understanding, but was never able to fully understand why it happened. It hurts to think that because of lack of agreement that there are several people that are working without pay. I personally have a couple of family members that have government jobs that had to return to work on Monday and they will not receive pay for it.
It was very eyeopening to see how the events played out for this government shutdown occurred. I think its very important ensure that people understand not only what is going on within context but also without the bias of many more politically based news media. It doesn’t seem like this shutdown will end soon.
While we are actually in a government shut down right now I think that some of it is mostly based on media and public attention not actually on the government. I don’t think that this is necessary because many employees are not receiving money that support them and their families. I think that congress is responsible and doing this kind of defeats the point because of all of the money lost while laying many workers off. I think that this should never happen in the first place but if it does the severity should not be this extreme.
Thank you for explaining the government shutdown in this blog post. As someone who is not very interested in the government because I am easily confused by all the terminology, this article gave me a better understanding. This shutdown is going to be a good thing to teach my students about in my future classroom, as (hopefully) this government shutdown will be history.
This article was very helpful in understanding how a government shutdown occurs. I thought it was just because Republicans and Democrats could not agree on a piece of legislation, and I did not know that it always occurs at the end of a fiscal year. I also find it interesting that a government shutdown affects so many people. I have heard of some restaurants in the Northern Kentucky area that are actually offering discounts and free food to government employees because of the government shutdown. I can’t even imagine how many families are affected by a government shutdown. I think this would be a great way to make a lesson about government shutdowns relevant to middle school students. As a teacher, I can dive into how a government shutdown could affect their own lives. This gives me a lot of great ideas for possible lessons.
I decided to read this specific article because as a future social studies teacher I need to stay informed with events happening in the country. This also means that I need to know what a government shutdown actually means. This article gave me a basic understanding of what a government shutdown is and what it means to government employees, as well as for the rest of the country. I never fully understood what a government shutdown meant, why it happened, it who it really affects. I also found it very interesting with how much is actually cost to have the government shutdown for this long.
Prior to reading this article, my biggest concern regarding the government shutdown was the number of employees being forced to work with no pay. I had no concept, however, of how many people this really affects. In addition to not being paid, many of these individuals work very important and difficult jobs that are essential to our safety and therefore employees must continue to work. One example listed in the article is air traffic control, but without them flight would be extremely dangerous. Other jobs that are less important to national safety, such as national park workers, are able to not work during the shutdown, however visitors are harming the state of the parks with no employees to clean. I am interested to see how much longer the shutdown will last and the process of how things (such as the national parks) will return to normal.
I think it is ridiculous that the president can shut down the government because he isn’t getting what he wants. All of the peoples lives who are affected greatly from the shut down don’t have a choice but to work without pay and that is not right. In all honesty it baffles my mind that our government can still have shut downs like this.
Before reading this article, I had a basic understanding of what a government shutdown was and what it entailed, but this only helped further explain to the topic in an organized fashion. Regardless of your political stance, I hope we can all agree that many people become negatively affected by a shutdown (i.e. military personnel and unpaid government employees such as TSA). Within my own life, my fiancé got notified a few days ago that his military training, which had him leaving Feb 1st, would be postponed until further notice. This news became frustrating since we planned our wedding around his 4 month leave, but it really put into perspective how much government shutdowns effect us more personally and directly than we may intially realize. I really enjoyed reading this article and it allowed me to be more educated on the subject.