A few weeks ago, Congress and President Trump ended a stalemate over the shutdown of the government.
Through the shutdown, I received opinions and concerns from countless Hoosiers. Some supported it. Far more were concerned about how it was impacting them, their families and their friends. But more than anything I heard confusion about what a shutdown actually means and why it is such a major concern.
A government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass its annual spending bills, which allocate money to countless different agency operations. Essentially, the flow of money stops to agencies that run everything from housing to education to homeland security — leaving many people furloughed and other so-called “essential employees” working without pay.
While we all want federal employees to be paid, many people who are not federal employees rightly wonder how this impacts them. It is important to point out that so many people in our community work for the federal government, work for companies that contract with the federal government, rely on its services and support organizations that use federal funds to serve our neighborhoods.
When a federal government agency shuts down, many of the funds they distribute to states, cities and local organizations stop. During our most recent shutdown, housing vouchers were not distributed on time, leaving recipients with no way to pay their rent. If it had continued much longer families that rely on food aid programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC), would have lost their benefits. Local programs to keep kids off the street, bring services to seniors, train workers for new careers lost access to federal grants they depend on to operate.
Shutdowns also impact everyday activities we take for granted. Food safety inspectors are sent home, endangering food that reaches our store shelves. Federal Aviation Administration personnel are unable to certify that an aircraft is safe. IRS employees are unable to process tax refunds.
Our most recent shutdown was partial, with only some agencies shutting their doors. Yet, despite being limited, its impacts were vast and immediate. Future shutdowns could be broader, with impacts extending from medical research to K-12 education to service members and veterans.
I believe that keeping the government open so that it can serve the American people is a core responsibility for Congress and the president. Until recently, that has been entirely non-partisan. After all, if we fail to keep the government open, it does not matter what we do to improve federal services because those services will not reach American families.
Unfortunately, recent events leave me deeply concerned that shutdowns may become more common and used as political leverage to extort concessions from political opponents. This is wrong, which is why I will fight every day to ensure this does not become our new political reality.
Rep. Carson represents the 7th District of Indiana. He is a Member of the Congressional Black Caucus and one of three Muslims in Congress. Rep. Carson sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, where he is chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation. Contact Rep. Carson at carson.house.gov/contact.
André Carson
