In response to Congress’ failure to make progress on government funding ahead of the start of the next fiscal year on Sunday, October 1, NARFE National President William Shackelford issued the following statement:
“Small minorities in Congress are impeding the basic duty of Congress to fund the federal government, threatening an unnecessary and irresponsible government shutdown. It is past time for the House majority to ignore the unappeasable few within its caucus and work across the aisle toward a bipartisan agreement that serves the American people.
“If Congress does not fund the government, millions of federal employees could go without pay, agency missions will be hamstrung, and every American will suffer the consequences because lawmakers couldn’t agree to a simple continuing resolution.
“There are no winners from this catastrophic failure. The last government shutdown cost the economy $11 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office, and that was only a partial shutdown, affecting about 800,000 out of a federal workforce of more than 2 million. This time around, Congress hasn’t passed a single appropriations bill into law. The damage to our economy will be even more severe if this calamity isn’t quickly resolved.
“I urge every lawmaker to support a continuing resolution that can achieve bipartisan support to fund the federal government, and to do so without delay. The continuing resolution should either be clean, without extraneous provisions, or only include extraneous provisions pursuant to a bipartisan, bicameral negotiation. If the Speaker of the House won’t bring such a bill to the House floor, I urge every Representative to sign a discharge petition to head off a disastrous shutdown.
“The majority of lawmakers understand the harm of shutdowns and know that there is nothing to gain. It’s time for them to cast aside those unwilling to do what’s right and fund the federal government.”
Background
- In May 2023, President Biden and Speaker McCarthy reached an agreement to raise the federal government’s debt limit and set caps on annual government funding levels for the next two fiscal years. This agreement provided a mechanism to avoid a government shutdown, but House Republicans have crafted appropriations bills with spending levels significantly less than agreed to.
- Since lawmakers have returned from the August recess, the House has been unable to advance the appropriations process, with a small contingent of House Republicans holding the process hostage for further spending cuts and partisan policy demands that have no chance of passing the Senate. The resulting delays and refusal by these members to support a basic continuing resolution increase the risk of shutdown.
- The Senate has worked on a bipartisan basis during its appropriations process and is advancing a bipartisan continuing resolution to avoid a lapse in funding. Procedural objections may delay timely passage, but the path forward is clear.
- Members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in the House of Representatives have endorsed an alternative, bipartisan continuing resolution as well. This provides another path to avoid a shutdown.
- Should Congress fail to pass a continuing resolution by midnight Saturday, September 30, the federal government will shut down due to a lapse in appropriations.
- Earlier today, NARFE National President William “Bill” Shackelford sent a letter to the House of Representatives urging passage of a continuing resolution.
NARFE’s Shutdown Resources page provides information, resources and updates on the government shutdown and its impact