This year, the government has experienced the longest shutdown in US history, spanning the course of 41 days. Congress, which was mired in major gridlock, was unable to pass a budget, resulting in millions not receiving consistent income and their full SNAP benefits, healthcare becoming at risk, and the economy losing $14 billion. The government shutdown would not be at the magnitude it was had it not been for the gridlock in Congress. Both parties have attempted to work across the aisle, yet neither has made significant progress towards a passed budget. This poses the question: in the future, how can we prevent a government shutdown in the event of a congressional stalemate?
An immediate idea is to back-pay congressmen during a shutdown, or only pay them once the shutdown has been relieved. As sophomore Teddy Gutstein stated, “The lack of pay will be an incentive to get [the budget passed].” It is quite possible that many representatives and senators simply don’t understand the significance of the shutdown and how it affects families across the nation. If they weren’t getting paid, just as the constituents they’re representing aren’t, they may act more hastily with a higher likelihood of cooperating with colleagues to get a compromised budget passed.
Gutstein had something else to add as well. “We should start drafting our budget long before this happens, so when it comes to this, we don’t have to cut people’s pay to resolve these issues. There should be room for that in the fiscal year.” While it is true that, throughout the year, Congress consistently checks on the budget planning process, it seems that both the House and the Senate only started confronting these problems halfway through September, not using the lengthy fiscal year to their advantage. Gutstein continued, “There’s much more gridlock ahead of us. This tension should have happened four months ago, [and] we could have resolved these disputes long before October 1st.”
Another idea is for the government to create a “savings account,” where the government can store spare funds until a federal crisis, such as this government shutdown. When the idea was presented to sophomore Artjon Lamce, he gave a strong affirmation. “That can really help [citizens] who are going through hardships due to this government shutdown. They’re not getting the food, money, or anything they need, [so] that’s a great idea for the federal government.” In addition, this would also keep workers of intense labor well-paid, such as Air Traffic Controllers.
However, an anonymous student had what he considered a much simpler answer. “There are countries that have measures in place, [such as] that they don’t have the filibuster. To prevent shutdowns in the future, I’d get rid of the filibuster in the Senate.” While using the “nuclear option” would stop the shutdown in the blink of an eye, it would also strike down the minority’s last line of defense if they were to be the minority in all three branches, thereby harming our government’s two-party system. This could create drastic effects that could deeply hurt our nation in the future. Therefore, cutting the filibuster in the Senate, even just this once, is a suboptimal solution despite its short-term, rapid solution.
Millions have been furloughed and are yet to be back-paid. Millions no longer have access to food stamps. Of these millions, those who were living paycheck-to-paycheck now don’t know where their next meal will come from. The effects of a government shutdown are palpable and catastrophic, and it’s time for America to ask how Congress’s gridlock can be resolved. If the government learns nothing, we are doomed to repeat history; our country cannot hold back another shutdown.
