Everything you need to know about government shutdowns
VoxOct 01, 2023
The Facts
A US federal government shutdown was averted after Congress passed a stopgap funding bill three hours before the midnight Saturday deadline, with Pres. Joe Biden signing it just shy of this cutoff.
After an additional $6B in military and economic aid to Ukraine was dropped from the bipartisan deal, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 335-91 to pass the bill.
The Spin
Republican narrative
While a government shutdown is averted, it's only a temporary fix for a very real problem: the US is sitting on $33T of debt. Before Democrats celebrate this accomplishment, it should be noted that Congress did little more than push the deadline back some 45 days. There will be no shutdown for now, but if Democrats continue doing things like they've been since the mid-90s, that will change.
Democratic narrative
While the US can breathe a sigh of relief, the country should never have been in this position in the first place. The GOP is solely responsible for bringing the federal government to the brink of default by demanding drastic cuts that would have devastated millions of Americans and damaged US creditworthiness. The Republicans must stop playing political games with people's lives.
