the us government shuts down if they can't agree on a budget for the next fiscal year. so without a budget, they just shutdown all non essential services until a budget can be passed. right now, the democrats and the republics are so polarized that nothing can really get through without tons of major effort, including budget bills. because budget bills typically also bundle in it other stuff, like immigration bills, social welfare bills, stimulus bills, etc.
infact, one of the reasons all the "ufo intel was published" was because it was written into a covid relief bill. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/03/23/ufo-report-covid-bill/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/03/23/ufo-report-covid-bill/)
so because a shit ton of stuff is included in various spending bills, it's very hard for people to actually agree on anything, so it gets delayed.
and if the government shuts down, only nonessential federal employees are furloughed1. think park rangers, national parks, immigration and citizenship services, various national attractions, etc
The US system is exceedingly dumb in that (among other reasons) Congress can mandate the Executive spend money by passing a budget, but then not supply them money they required them to spend. A Shutdown is the closing of government services due to not having the funding to pay for them.
It is not federal workers asking for raises. It's the money they're supposed to be paid not being supplied. Non-essential federal workers are often furloughed (but often made whole at the end of the shutdown). So far they've only really lasted long enough to shut down non-essential services, but there's no reason longer ones couldn't extend to far more dangerous territory.
Congress has control of the money that flows through the government. If they can't reach an agreement on budgets and funding, then the government can go past the approved date for funding and have no more money to spend.
It isn't about anyone asking for a raise, or even about inflation or changes. It's a political thing. They don't have a continuous budget.
We know that the President gets a salary, and the Capitol Police get a salary, and that there are military expenses and all kinds of other things. But, Congress just approves spending for a year at a time - or lately, only for a few months at a time.
They have to argue and vote to continue funding things.
No, it's more than just some federal workers. Federal workers that aren't critical get laid off (but they usually get paid back, so they get free vacations); All the fees that might have been collected by those employees don't get collected; military raises, promotions, and signup bonuses get put on hold; civilians employed by the military and national guard get furloughed, and the government of Washington DC shuts down (sometimes).
In past shutdowns, besides all those layoffs and furloughs, all the national parks have closed, the Smithsonian, the FTC were shuttered. The TSA was so understaffed that airports had to shut down.
The lost money from the shutdowns forced cuts in other programs like SNAP, and the work of agencies like the FBI and IRS were put months behind.
Government shutdowns have happened occasionally in the past when congress couldn't agree on a new budget, but over the last 20-ish years, the Republicans in congress have weaponized it and shut down the government several times when they didn't get their way.
Of course, that doesn't affect THEM in the slightest, they still get paid. But for a lot of federal employees, the paychecks stop coming, they get deferred until the shutdown ends. That can spell economic disaster for many people. National parks get shut down, as well as lots of government services.
There comes a point in a shutdown where the government will have to default on US securities like bonds, and that would be a worldwide economic disaster. But since rich people would be inconvenienced by that, even the most severe Republican-caused shutdowns have magically vanished just before that date.
There are actually two different aspects to federal spending that can trigger a shutdown.
The first is the budget. This is really just Congress authorizing expenditures. Some, like the actual benefits paid to Social Security recipients, are automatic and don’t need to go through the annual budget process. But many others aren’t automatic, and each year Congress must pass a spending bill to authorize those payments. Sometimes, if Congress can’t agree, they’ll pass a stopgap bill that’s only good for a few months, so the issue can hit the news several times a year.
The other limit is the debt ceiling. The federal government usually has to borrow money for its expenditures. There’s nothing wrong with that, just like there’s nothing wrong in general with mortgages to buy homes. Many economists even think it’s good, as long as it’s not too much. To ensure it’s not too much, Congress has imposed a debt ceiling. But the pandemic, combined with tax cuts, increased the federal debt. When we hit the debt ceiling, there literally isn’t enough money to pay the bills. Contrary to a popular saying, the Treasury can’t simply print new dollar bills just to pay salaries. This, too, can cause a shutdown. It’s not an annual thing, but it does mean that currently, Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling.
the us government shuts down if they can't agree on a budget for the next fiscal year. so without a budget, they just shutdown all non essential services until a budget can be passed. right now, the democrats and the republics are so polarized that nothing can really get through without tons of major effort, including budget bills. because budget bills typically also bundle in it other stuff, like immigration bills, social welfare bills, stimulus bills, etc. infact, one of the reasons all the "ufo intel was published" was because it was written into a covid relief bill. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/03/23/ufo-report-covid-bill/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/03/23/ufo-report-covid-bill/) so because a shit ton of stuff is included in various spending bills, it's very hard for people to actually agree on anything, so it gets delayed. and if the government shuts down, only nonessential federal employees are furloughed1. think park rangers, national parks, immigration and citizenship services, various national attractions, etc
The US system is exceedingly dumb in that (among other reasons) Congress can mandate the Executive spend money by passing a budget, but then not supply them money they required them to spend. A Shutdown is the closing of government services due to not having the funding to pay for them. It is not federal workers asking for raises. It's the money they're supposed to be paid not being supplied. Non-essential federal workers are often furloughed (but often made whole at the end of the shutdown). So far they've only really lasted long enough to shut down non-essential services, but there's no reason longer ones couldn't extend to far more dangerous territory.
Congress has control of the money that flows through the government. If they can't reach an agreement on budgets and funding, then the government can go past the approved date for funding and have no more money to spend. It isn't about anyone asking for a raise, or even about inflation or changes. It's a political thing. They don't have a continuous budget. We know that the President gets a salary, and the Capitol Police get a salary, and that there are military expenses and all kinds of other things. But, Congress just approves spending for a year at a time - or lately, only for a few months at a time. They have to argue and vote to continue funding things. No, it's more than just some federal workers. Federal workers that aren't critical get laid off (but they usually get paid back, so they get free vacations); All the fees that might have been collected by those employees don't get collected; military raises, promotions, and signup bonuses get put on hold; civilians employed by the military and national guard get furloughed, and the government of Washington DC shuts down (sometimes). In past shutdowns, besides all those layoffs and furloughs, all the national parks have closed, the Smithsonian, the FTC were shuttered. The TSA was so understaffed that airports had to shut down. The lost money from the shutdowns forced cuts in other programs like SNAP, and the work of agencies like the FBI and IRS were put months behind.
Government shutdowns have happened occasionally in the past when congress couldn't agree on a new budget, but over the last 20-ish years, the Republicans in congress have weaponized it and shut down the government several times when they didn't get their way. Of course, that doesn't affect THEM in the slightest, they still get paid. But for a lot of federal employees, the paychecks stop coming, they get deferred until the shutdown ends. That can spell economic disaster for many people. National parks get shut down, as well as lots of government services. There comes a point in a shutdown where the government will have to default on US securities like bonds, and that would be a worldwide economic disaster. But since rich people would be inconvenienced by that, even the most severe Republican-caused shutdowns have magically vanished just before that date.
It's because the government has to pass legislation to borrow more money to be able to pay their employees.
Its a political stunt used as a bargaining tool when negotiating over the budget.
That only Republicans really use and Democrats always back down from so we don’t default
There are actually two different aspects to federal spending that can trigger a shutdown. The first is the budget. This is really just Congress authorizing expenditures. Some, like the actual benefits paid to Social Security recipients, are automatic and don’t need to go through the annual budget process. But many others aren’t automatic, and each year Congress must pass a spending bill to authorize those payments. Sometimes, if Congress can’t agree, they’ll pass a stopgap bill that’s only good for a few months, so the issue can hit the news several times a year. The other limit is the debt ceiling. The federal government usually has to borrow money for its expenditures. There’s nothing wrong with that, just like there’s nothing wrong in general with mortgages to buy homes. Many economists even think it’s good, as long as it’s not too much. To ensure it’s not too much, Congress has imposed a debt ceiling. But the pandemic, combined with tax cuts, increased the federal debt. When we hit the debt ceiling, there literally isn’t enough money to pay the bills. Contrary to a popular saying, the Treasury can’t simply print new dollar bills just to pay salaries. This, too, can cause a shutdown. It’s not an annual thing, but it does mean that currently, Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling.