Governors, groups tell Congress to quit 'political games,' avert govt shutdown

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(The Center Square) – As the U.S. government barrels towards a shutdown, organizations across the political spectrum are urging congressional leaders to break their budget impasse and reach a funding compromise before midnight.

Both Republicans and Democrats have proposed Continuing Resolutions to temporarily extend government funding at existing levels, buying lawmakers time to finish the annual appropriations process. 

But while Republicans’ CR merely keeps funding on cruise control for seven weeks and provides a boost to federal security, Democrats’ month-long CR includes dozens of partisan policy riders costing up to $1.4 trillion. 

A partial government shutdown on Oct.1 would benefit neither side politically and negatively impact millions of Americans. However, Republican leaders refuse to pass a “partisan liberal wishlist” just to keep the government open, and Democratic leaders vow to tank any CR that does not extend the sunsetting enhanced Obamacare Premium Tax Credits.

“Shutdowns never work out well for really all parties. They just drive down the trust that Americans have for the government, and they just display the inability of adults to act like adults,” National Taxpayers Union Executive Vice President Brandon Arnold told The Center Square.

“I'm hoping that they can hammer something out, but we're in a time of such great political polarization that it's difficult for them to agree on the time of day, let alone how to spend hundreds of billions – or even trillions – of dollars for the remainder of this year or so.”

Congress never even passed a proper federal budget for the current fiscal year 2025, instead passing three continuous CRs to extend previous year’s funding and punt the shutdown deadline to Sept. 30 at midnight. 

Now, everyone from the NTU to the National Governors Association to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is beseeching U.S. lawmakers to get their act together.

The 55 U.S. governors represented by the NGA have called on both parties “to set aside political games,” reminding Congress that it “has a responsibility to ensure the government remains operational.”

“The consistent use of political brinksmanship when it comes to our government funding does not serve our states, territories or our people well,” the governors added.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Neil Bradley said even brief government shutdowns harm the economy, national security and ordinary Americans, “often in ways that are not immediately obvious.”

“In communities across the country, businesses and Americans rely on the functions of government,” Bradley stated. “The Chamber calls on Congress and the Administration to work together to pass legislation to avert a federal government shutdown.”

Polls on which party the American people would blame a shutdown on reveal different results, but 60% of Americans disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job, according to the most recent RealClearPolitics polling averages. 

“When we look at how the general public, how Americans, feel, they're just fed up in general that Congress can't come together and keep the doors of the government open – which seems like a pretty low bar to achieve,” Arnold said. “So we'll see, but I'm hoping cooler heads will prevail. And that should be, in this case, a clean CR.”