The US government shut down in October 2013 after Congress failed to agree on a budget by the deadline. Republicans used the budget deadline to try and delay the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010. The shutdown resulted in over 700,000 federal employees being furloughed without pay and the closure of some national parks and services. There are a few options to resolve the shutdown, including passing a clean budget without the healthcare provision, Democrats accepting changes, or a compromise. However, there does not seem to be much willingness to compromise from Republicans currently.

1. Rachel Fairhead, Maidstone Grammar School for Girls
The Annual
US Budget
Fight
Since 2010 the Republicans have
controlled the House of Representatives,
as a result the budget process has
normally turned into a, somewhat
embarrassing fight between the
Democrats and the Republicans.
This year the US government had to agree a budget by October
1st. However, the US Congress failed to agree a budget and a federal
government shut down began. The last time the government
shutdown was under US President Bill Clinton, for 28 days from
mid-December 1995, although the government came close to shutting
down in 2011. The US government has experienced 18 shutdowns in
the past 30 years.
The consequences of this year’s shutdown is that some 700, 000 federal
employees were sent home without pay. This includes members of
different government departments including Energy, Environment,
Defence, museum staff; and national parks staff.
What this means is that a number of services will not be carried out.
For example the Statue of Liberty closed; and passports/ visas
couldn’t be issued.
The Office of Management and Budget has had to ask different
departments/ agencies to make emergency making contingency plans.
(There is a good chance that they will be based on their plans from
2011) With a government shutdown, of any type, the federal government
does not stop functioning completely, and by law, certain agencies
must operate with unpaid employees. These include those that deal
with national security and the safety of people and property,
agencies that manage benefits such as Social Security payments, as
well as the US postal service.
The big question is, what triggered this particular shutdown?
Essentially the Republicans have used the budget deadline to try and
delay “ObamaCare” (ObamaCare is the unofficial name for The Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act which was signed into law on
March 23, 2010).
The “ObamaCare Act” is not something that has suddenly, or just
happened, as the timescale below shows.
ObamaCare Timetable
2010
Insurers were banned from denying coverage to children with pre-existing
conditions, adults under 26 were allowed to remain on their parents' plans, and
insurers were barred from cancelling coverage in some circumstances. Insurers
were forbidden from imposing lifetime limits of health coverage.
2011
The law expanded access to preventative health services, and offered drug
discounts for people in the Medicare programme for pensioners.
2012
Provisions to encourage healthcare providers to lower costs took effect.
Oct 2013 Consumer health insurance marketplaces go online, with early snags and
glitches reported.
2014
People without health coverage from the government or their employers will
be required to purchase it. The government Medicaid health programme for
the poor will be expanded to cover more people, tax credits will subsidise
individuals' and families' purchase of health coverage, and insurers will be
barred from denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions.
Source BBC News website

2. Rachel Fairhead, Maidstone Grammar School for Girls
The Annual
US Budget
Fight
(continued)
It’s no secret that the Republicans loathe the healthcare reforms
brought about by Obama. The problem for them is that ObamaCare
has been signed into law, it has been declared constitutional by the
Supreme Court; and one of its main provisions came into effect on
October 1st. In addition Obama’s win in last year’s presidential
election means that it really is not going to go anywhere.
Apart from the issue of the government shutdown, there is the
additional looming problem of the 17th October, where if the debt
ceiling is not raised the US will go into default. Already the
government has had to engage in creative accounting, since May,
in order to keep paying the government’s obligations.
There are a few options available to resolve the shutdown.
1 Pass the budget without the healthcare reform attachment
(clean bill)
2 The Democrats (and the Senate) could accept the changes
3 A compromise could be reached
The current state of play is that whilst the Republicans seem to be
slowly creeping back from their original standpoint, there does not
seem to be much of an air of compromise.
Whether or not this financial crisis/ government shutdown has been
resolved by the time you read this, these events are clearly useful
developments for politics students, demonstrating how different
government branches relate to each other, as well as the complexity
of US domestic politics.
Questions
Explain why we should we care about the US government
shutdown?
Assess and explain the impact this event has had on
the relationship between the executive and legislative
branches of government(especially the President and the
House of Representatives).