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We can guess what come to your mind when you see the title. 🙂 So, in the United States, the government can partially shut down under certain conditions. Namely, when the government partially shuts down, public services stop completely, except for some essential services. Especially at certain periods, we see the topic of the US Government Shutdown in international news. Details on the issue and discussions in the House of Representatives and the Senate are closely watched by the whole world. We will try to explain this issue, which attracts a lot of attention globally due to its potential effects on world economies, without going into too much detail and technical terms. Naturally, such a popular topic is likely to come up in school or job interviews.
This issue has become very popular, especially with the “Debt Ceiling” issue, as American politics and people have become more polarized in the last twenty years. At a certain time of the year, the issue of debt ceiling comes to the agenda in America and the world, and at a certain time, the issue of government closure comes to the agenda.
Probably, this issue will come to the agenda again before the American Presidential Elections, which will take place at the end of the year 2024 on Tuesday, November 5, and will be of very critical importance. After Joe Biden withdraws from the American Presidential candidacy on July 21, 2024, this issue will become a major political issue between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump during the election period.
Federal Government Shutdown
In order to understand the US Government shutdown subject, we first need to know the structure of the American parliament well. The American Parliament or Congress consists of two lower houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Important legislation must pass both the senate and the House of Representatives. In this context, according to American laws, the American budget, which covers the end of October 1st to September 30th every year, must be approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate and passed by the Congress. This is exactly where the problematic part begins 🙂 In every election period, conservatives – Republicans, who generally represent the political spectrum in America, win one lower house, and democrats win the other house. In other words, the president who wants to pass an important law or bill through both chambers usually has to persuade the lower house of the other party.
As you can easily appreciate, this is very difficult to achieve in a political climate like America, which is highly polarized, especially after Trump’s presidency. During the Biden administration, which currently includes 2024, the Senate is in the hands of the democrats, that is, Biden supporters, and the House of Representatives is in the hands of the opposition, that is, the Republicans.
Why Government Shuts Down?
A temporary compromise was reached at the last minute on the US Federal Government Budget Shutdown in 2023 and the danger was prevented. Following this incident, Republican McCarthy, speaker of the House of Representatives, was dismissed from the speakership after his ultra-conservative friends in his own party withdrew their support from him. So, sometimes you may have difficulty convincing even your own party and you may be dismissed, whether you are a republican or a democrat 🙂 There is no other speaker in history who has been dismissed from the position of speaker of the House of Representatives and with the votes of his own party.
On the other hand, if we remember, during the Trump era, there was a US Government Shutdown for more than thirty-five days. If the American public continues to be polarized on politics, the issue will be again become popular in September 2024, just before the presidential election in November.
If Government Closes
So far, we have given brief information about the topic. Then, what happens if the government shuts down? What will be the impact of this situation on the US government, its people and other countries? These issues are also very important. In the case of a state closing, which we see in the international media as “The Us Federal Government Budget Shutdown“, the services of public institutions are temporarily suspended, except for strategic, that is, critically important organizations such as the army, health and the CIA and FBI.
Additionally, employees of public institutions that continue their services cannot receive their salaries until the budget is approved. In 2023, the biggest problem about the budget was about Ukraine aids. Republicans in the House of Representatives led by McCarthy criticized the high aid provided to Ukraine in the budget and asked for this aid to be cut. President Biden never wanted to cut aid to Ukraine. At this stage, a temporary agreement has been reached and the government shutdown has been prevented. In this process, as we have stated before, McCarthy, who was a Republican and speaker of the parliament, was dismissed and removed from his position as speaker in the House of Representatives with the votes of his own party.
Government Shutdown in 2024
We have previously stated that there are two different lower houses in the American Congress which are the Senate and the House of Representatives. Accordingly, decisions must be passed by both together. It should not be forgotten that there is a serious difficulty in passing a law or budget in the Senate which is dominated by the Democrats, the party of President Biden, and the House of Representatives, where the Republican Party is in the majority.
Especially considering that American politics and society have become increasingly polarized in recent years, the risk of a US Government Shutdown will occur again in 2024. This will also have negative side effects on global financial markets. It is very obvious that even in the risk of that, stock markets and money markets fluctuate. At this point, if the American Presidential Elections that will take place on November 5, 2024 are taken into consideration, the probability of a shutdown will again be high. Considering that government shutdowns have occurred approximately 41 times in the past 40 years, we will probably see that the US Senate and House of Representatives will have a difficult time in this regard next year.
