AASHTO Journal, 4 October 2013
After congressional leaders were unable to reach an agreement on how to fund it, the federal government shut down Tuesday, sending about 800,000 workers home from work without pay.
The House and Senate have both voted on their own measures to keep the government funded, yet neither side agreed to the measures passed by the other. The Senate and House were both considering a continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 15 at current funding levels, but the House measures have all included stipulations to either defund or delay the Affordable Care Act while the Senate measures have not.
The U.S. Department of Transportation last week outlined its shutdown plan, which includes furloughs for more than 18,000 of its roughly 55,000 employees. Most of the furloughs are Federal Aviation Administration employees (15,514 employees). Nearly all of the Federal Transit Administration staff (501 of 527 employees) and more than half of the Federal Railroad Administration (467 of 886 employees) were furloughed.
President Obama met with House and Senate leaders Wednesday evening, though no progress came from the conversation. The President and Senate Democratic leaders have all stated they will not consider any CRs that include an effort to eliminate funding for or delay the health care law.
The government shutdown comes just weeks before another anticipated fight on increasing the nation’s debt ceiling. The House and Senate would need to raise that debt ceiling, which limits the amount of money the U.S. government can borrow. Failure to raise that debt ceiling level not only keeps government from running but would also mean the U.S. would default on its loans. In recent years, House Republicans have voiced their desire to not raise the debt ceiling unless significant spending reductions that would lower the national debt are part of the package. Many now speculate that the debates over a continuing resolution and the debt ceiling are likely to meld into a single broader solution in the coming days or weeks.
The AASHTO Journal will continue to update readers on this story.