Lankford in National Review: “It Is Time to Be Done with Shutdowns”
WASHINGTON, DC — US Senator James Lankford (R-OK) penned a column recently in the National Review on his Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2025. You can read it below or find it in the National Review HERE.
It Is Time to Be Done with Shutdowns
By: James Lankford
We’re five weeks into a government shutdown. It should be the last one.
Here is a shocking headline: “Americans do not always agree.” We see our disagreement at every football game, as well as during the latest government shutdown. Depending on how this shutdown directly affects you or your politics, Americans across the country seem to be either apathetic, confused, or frustrated. It’s a shutdown Groundhog Day.
This time, Democrats refused to vote for a nonpartisan continuing resolution to just extend current government funding levels for seven weeks while we finish our negotiations on appropriations. Apparently, Senate Democrats needed to demonstrate to their progressive base that they are “fighting Trump.” For the record, Republicans did not agree with President Biden about anything, but we never had a shutdown during his presidency because Republicans chose to keep the government open while we negotiated, rather than hold federal workers and their families hostage in the negotiations.
American disagreement on issues is as old as the nation, but the phenomenon of government shutdowns is relatively new. The Constitution states that the Treasury can’t disburse money except when Congress has appropriated it; however, it wasn’t until 1980 that the Antideficiency Act, which was originally passed a century earlier in 1870, was reinterpreted to mean that when government funding stops, a government shutdown happens. Before 1980, government agencies continued operating even without formal appropriations.
Since 1980, government shutdowns have occurred more and more frequently and lasted longer and longer. There have been at least 15 notable shutdowns (including the current one) since the early 1980s, with four of them lasting more than four business days. The longest to date was the 35-day shutdown in late 2018 into early 2019, which cost the American economy $11 billion. We also had a 21-day shutdown in 1995–96 and a 16-day shutdown in 2013.
Shutdowns don’t help veterans, families, seniors, small businesses, our national security, or America’s credibility on the world stage. They don’t make government more accountable. They only make us look dysfunctional. We have a huge national debt that demands intense and protracted debate. But why would we keep the government closed for weeks or months while we debate?
Several years ago, I introduced the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act to end shutdowns once and for all. The bill is simple — if Congress has not come to an agreement on the yearly appropriation bills in time, an automatic continuing resolution would keep the government open at the current-year levels, but it would also force the House and Senate to stay in session seven days a week and it would prevent either body from voting on anything other than appropriation bills until they are finished. My bill has gained more momentum each year. Last year, it had 57 supporters, which is obviously a majority, but it’s still three votes shy of passage in the Senate. Just last week, Representative Jodey Arrington (R., Texas) introduced it in the House of Representatives, along with two Democrats.
The Prevent Government Shutdowns Act is the congressional equivalent of what my mom used to do when my brother and I were fighting in the living room as kids. She would make us go to our room and fight it out, instead of disturbing the rest of the family. Congress should fight out our obvious differences while still protecting the American people from the needless disruption.
The American people expect Congress to get the hard work done. It’s time we end shutdowns once and for all and get back to the real debate over the things that matter.
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