It’s unconscionable that any party in charge of the House of Representatives would even consider a politically motivated government shutdown as the United States works to pull itself out of the grip of the COVID-19 economic calamity and its lingering inflation.
Instead of seeking ways to run on a positive and fulfilling legislative agenda of “we fixed the COVID economy and tackled inflation,” MAGA Republicans are instead pushing for a government shutdown that would disrupt American workers, military, families, supply chains, travel, and volatile financial markets, among causing other unnecessary problems.
Ultimately, like the Jan. 6 insurrection succeeded in doing, the MAGA Republicans shutdown will also threaten the nation's credit rating, causing more economic pain as the country tries to escape the grip of inflation that unmercifully followed the pandemic.
And it’s all because MAGA Republicans are willing to shut down the government unless Congress passes a dangerous series of cuts guaranteed to slow the U.S. economy and give Russia an advantage in its insidious invasion of Ukraine. The scheme is poorly thought out and utterly reckless since it won’t see the light of day in the Senate. Even worse, the MAGA Republicans plan does not appear to include a face-saving exit strategy to end the charade.
While a government shutdown for political points may seem to be a million miles away from many Americans' day to day doings and responsibilities, it is important to recognize the immediate turmoil it directly causes for federal workers, military personnel, contractors, suppliers, communities, and even some entire states. Eventually the shock waves from a prolonged shutdown hits us all in the wallet, but for some the pain comes quickly and runs deep.
Consider the massive fallout that the threat of a shutdown alone has on Virginia, for example. There are more than 140,000 civilian federal workers in Virginia, and their families, communities and businesses where they shop would be affected by the MAGA Republican shutdown. The massive military presence in the state, and frankly U.S. national security, would also be put under duress by forcing military personnel to continue to their jobs without getting paid during the shutdown. Over time support and potential supply chain issues would also cause problems on military installations in Virginia.
“In Virginia alone, 129,400 active-duty service members will be forced to continue working without pay — a phenomenon that will undermine our national security and threaten the well-being of military families,” they said. “Service members should never be put in this situation,” Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia said in a joint statement.
One might expect that the devastating impact a government shutdown poses on Virginia would prompt the state’s highest Republican elected officials to at least urge their Republican colleagues in the House to avoid a shutdown at all costs. Sadly, no chance. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is downplaying the threat and hasn’t said a peep publicly about what if anything he plans to do to at least try to avoid a shutdown, and there is no indication he’s said much privately to persuade MAGA Republicans to halt the approaching crisis. The same goes for Virginia’s Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert, who also hasn’t been heard speaking out at MAGA Republicans over the shutdown threat. No-show leadership while early voting is going on in Virginia state elections does not project well.
Some Virginians, however, do remember well the 35-day Trump-driven government shutdown between 2018 and 2019, the longest shutdown in the country’s history. Sen. Warner of Virginia believes one lesson learned in that episode was government shutdowns hit Virginia hardest.
“I just don’t get anyone who’s calculating that somehow this is in the country’s best interest, or even in their short-term political interest,” Warner said, according to WTOP news radio in Washington.
There is at least some hope that a long-term shutdown won’t happen. Senate Democrats and Republicans are at least trying to use a temporary measure to keep the government open and running, but it will take some legislative finesse to get a bipartisan bill through the House, where MAGA Republicans can’t even work with traditional Republican conservatives to pass a budget, let alone Democrats.
Any so-called stop-gap measure, however, would bring the country back to a potential shutdown once the next deadline hits. So the problem of a shutdown isn’t being solved, it's just being delayed, and unfortunately, MAGA Republicans are under orders from Trump to shut down the government, so if not now, this scenario could easily play out again in a month or so.
The shutdown is just the latest incarnation of MAGAnomics, the prevailing agenda in the Republican Party in which chaos, division and destruction replace policies that improve the lives of Americans and bolster the U.S. economy. We’ve seen this kind of malicious lawmaking for at least nine years, so there is no reason to believe it’s going to stop until those responsible are held accountable by the voters.
This piece was written by Ken Bazinet. Ken is a respected, longtime national political reporter and freelance writer based in rural Maryland.
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