Advocacy organizations call for congressional action ahead of looming federal shutdown

Written by Andy Castillo

The political spat that’s frozen congressional action on the budget, potentially leading to a government shutdown if an agreement isn’t reached by midnight Saturday, could create ripple effects felt far beyond the jurisdictional lines of the United States Capitol. If a shutdown happens, ‘nonessential’ federal government functions would hault. Federal employees wouldn’t receive paychecks. Benefits like SNAP and WIC would stop being funded. Billions in FEMA disaster relief funding would be blocked, and national parks would close, among other things.

On Friday, hard-line conservatives shot down an attempt by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to pass a stopgap measure that would have averted a closure, with 21 Republicans joining Democrats to defeat it 198-232. Advocacy organizations representing city and county administrators are calling for action to overcome the impasse as the deadline looms closer.

“Despite shaking hands on a bipartisan budget agreement just a few months ago, anti-worker politicians in Congress are now going back on their word. They are demanding drastic cuts to the essential programs millions of families need to survive—food, housing, education and more. And to get their way, they are using the threat of a government shutdown, which would jeopardize the livelihood of front-line federal employees as well as their families, while pausing lifesaving programs for millions of people nationwide,” said Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in a statement. “Extremists in Congress need to stop using our lives as bargaining chips. It’s time for them to follow through on the promises they have already made to keep the government open.” 

Clarence Anthony, executive director and CEO of the National League of Cities urged the Senate and House to “avoid a government shutdown that would have wide ranging detrimental effects on local government operations and needlessly increase economic uncertainty for cities, towns and villages,” he said.

Anthony noted that local governments never shut down, and that administrators expect elected leadership in Washington, D.C. to meet the “basic obligation” of keeping the government running. Government shutdowns, even short ones, impact the budgets of local governments immediately, he continued—delaying projects, causing layoffs, and creating lapses in funding.

“Allowing the federal government to do so (shut down) over political disagreements is reckless,” Anthony said. “We urge the Senate and the House to swiftly take up and pass the bipartisan continuing resolution agreement under consideration in the Senate. This agreement has support from leadership of both parties in the Senate and would avoid a government shutdown that would have wide ranging detrimental effects on local government operations and needlessly increase economic uncertainty for cities, towns and villages.”

Hillary Schieve, mayor of Reno, Nev. and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said in a statement that the “political theater” isn’t harmless, as it threatens the lives and livelihoods of hard working people and families.

“This is not a game,” Schieve said. “Shutting down the government will have real consequences for the economy, American families, and those who rely on essential federal programs. Cities can’t just shut down. A failure to fund the government would weaken public safety, public health, and our fragile economies. We can’t stress enough that Congress needs to represent the American people who rely on them every day to keep our government operating.”