HELENA — The ongoing federal government shutdown has dragged into a second week, and there’s no sign yet that lawmakers are closer to resolving the impasses that have held up funding.
U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, who represents Montana’s eastern congressional district, argues House Republicans did their job by passing a continuing resolution that would keep funding the government at existing levels. He told MTN Thursday it’s now up to Democrats to give in and allow that resolution to move forward.
(Watch the video to hear more from Downing about the ongoing shutdown.)
While Republicans hold the majority in both chambers of Congress, in the Senate, they need at least seven Democratic votes to clear the 60-vote threshold and avoid a filibuster. So far, only three Senate Democrats have supported the “clean” continuing resolution.
Democratic leaders have called for negotiations on extending expiring subsidies for health plans under the Affordable Care Act before agreeing to advance a funding bill. Downing has called that an unreasonable position.
“We need to get those remaining Senate Democrats to just get this extension – and if they want to have policy discussions, we do that in the regular order,” he said. “This is completely irrational, for them to hold the American people hostage.”
The shutdown started Oct. 1, as the new fiscal year began. Thursday marked Day 9. It’s now the fourth-longest lapse in federal funding, after a 16-day shutdown in 2013, 21 days in 1995 and 1996, and 35 days in 2018 and 2019.
The effects of a shutdown could get more visible if as it gets longer. One of the most obvious upcoming issues is that military members are due a paycheck on Oct. 15. If the government isn’t funded by then, they may not get it.
“Our service members, they understand service before self, they understand sacrifice, they understand what they signed up for, but they didn't understand that they were going to be expected to show up and not get paid,” said Downing. “These are not folks that are, in general, wealthy people. They depend on those paychecks, they depend on those programs.”
Some lawmakers have supported a bill to allow servicemembers to get paid during a shutdown, though so far, GOP leaders have said they want to see the government fully reopened rather than taking action to fund certain priorities one piece at a time. Downing and western district U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke – both of whom served in the military themselves – are listed as cosponsors of the military pay fix.
Downing said he expects there will be greater pressure on lawmakers to get on board with a continuing resolution as the shutdown goes on. He said, as agencies begin running out of residual funds, the public could feel impacts more directly. He pointed to issues like the National Flood Insurance Program running short of funds, and the ongoing challenges to agencies like the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the Border Patrol.
“All of this stuff is going to have less and less people that are willing to keep showing up without getting paid – and we're already starting to see that with air traffic control, we're starting to see flight delays,” Downing said. “This is just going to be compounded. At the end of the day, this is a horrible policy, this is a horrible place for the United States of America to be. We should never have government shutdowns. These are never good.”
After government shutdowns, there are often discussions about whether Congress should pass legislation that would automatically keep funding going on a temporary basis if a deadline is passed. Downing said he’s interested in the idea, but he has questions about how it would be implemented. For now, he says it’s more important for lawmakers to change the way they do business.
“We need to get back to the point where we understand we need to get all of these appropriations bills, these 12 spending bills, through before the end of the fiscal year, so that we're not stuck in the same position,” he said. “I’m hoping that this is the last time we have to see this.”
