Trump’s Office of Management and Budget under Russell Vought has moved with more executive authority over spending, which is typically left to Congress. The administration took steps to cancel foreign aid and asserted power to withhold billions of domestic spending.
“I would expect this shutdown to look different than any other shutdown,” said Joshua Sewell, Taxpayers for Common Sense director of research and policy. He said he expects that the Trump team’s actions would be guided by what they believe achieves the most for them politically.
Trump could use a shutdown to dismantle government functions, wrote Max Stier, chief of executive of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit focused on improving the federal government.
If lawmakers can’t reach a deal, Stier wrote, Trump and Vought “will have enormous latitude to determine which services, programs, and employees can be sidelined, decisions that could go far beyond what has occurred during past shutdowns.”
Is a shutdown each year now a regular thing in USA? Sounds like lawmakers should legislate some budget protections.
Congress hasn’t passed a full budget since 1996.
It’s another symptom of the dysfunction of Congress; they can’t get 60 senators to agree on a long-term funding bill.
They have legislated various protections. But it always comes down to two parties split about evenly yet needing 60% to pass…… and since it became ok to shut down the government there’s no longer an incentive to negotiate bipartisan solutions
Yeah the republicans have realized that they can demand anything they want to be part of the budget so every year we have a government shutdown then lose some rights to get it up again