Understanding the partial government shutdown happening right now

WASHINGTON DC - A partial government shutdown is now in its third day.

This comes months after the longest shutdown in U.S. history last fall.

ABC57’s Jordan Tolbert spoke with Notre Dame political science professor Jim Curry, PhD, about what makes this shutdown different.

Curry says this one is likely to be temporary and impacts can be felt when shutdowns drag on.

“Because for the first couple of weeks, no one's missed a paycheck yet. Most services sort of continue uninterrupted. And as long as it's going to end in the short term, which it could if the House of Representatives is able to pass the spending bill today, it kind of goes unnoticed. Versus, you know, the longest shutdown in American history, which is what we experienced in the fall. That's when you really feel the effects of not having government services functioning as they should,” said Curry.

The funding package needs to pass the House again before it becomes law.

The lapse in funding impacts the Pentagon, as well as the Transportation Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Right now, Curry says only the agencies with spending bills that have to be voted on by the House are affected.

“Everything else that they've passed over the past month or so is completely unaffected, because those spending bills are already passed. They're already signed. Everything's underway, so it's really a minority of the government, and as long as the disagreements about the Department of Homeland Security don't disrupt all the other funding bills, it's likely that the only thing that will still be in limbo after this week would just be the Department of Homeland Security,” said Curry.

Congress has already passed half of this year’s funding bills.

On Friday, the Senate voted to separate a DHS funding bill from five others, which fund other agencies through the fiscal year.

The White House made a deal with democrats to fund DHS at current levels for two weeks while restrictions on ICE are negotiated.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he’s ‘confident’ the Senate-passed funding package will pass by tomorrow. It needs to pass through the House Rules Committee on Monday before it goes to the floor for a vote.

“First and foremost, they have to get it through the House, which is uncertain. Democrats in the House have seemed less enthusiastic about going along with the deal that was cut between Senate Democrats and the White House. They've said they're not going to whip support for to get the bill on the floor today or to vote for it thereafter. But if, let's say that it gets through, now, there's a deadline for Democrats, Republicans in the White House to come to an agreement about changes to DHS policy, things they can add on to the spending bill to try to adjust what policy says about what ICE has been doing in places like Minneapolis,” said Curry.

He says Democrats have a long list of things they want to change.

“[...} including changes to how ICE agents are or are not able to enter people's homes, changes to what ICE agents are able to do on the ground where they're sent to. Request that ICE agents have body cameras and not use face coverings. There's a long list of things Democrats are hoping for. All they'll be buying themselves this week, if they pass this spending bill, is time to try to negotiate those things, but it's not certain that another two weeks will necessarily get them to an agreement that everyone can be happy with,” said Curry.

He says there are always changes when bills go from one chamber to another. Curry says there’s not a lot of disagreement on the spending levels and pretty broad bipartisan support on most of the bill in the spending package.

“The events in Minneapolis led democrats to want to demand something that would alter policies around ICE enforcement in some cities as a condition for continuing to back the spending package, seeing this as honestly a leverage point where they could try to get the administration to change course, or else have to deal with another government shutdown. And so it became a flashpoint. It was really a matter of timing. Nothing changed on agreement about the spending; what did change was the willingness of democrats to back funding for DHS, given what's been going on in Minneapolis,” said Curry.

ABC57 received statements from the three Michiana Congressmen regarding the partial shutdown.

Rudy Yakym (R), Indiana’s 2nd district:

“Congressman Yakym voted in favor of fully funding the government to support our troops, cut red tape, rebuild our infrastructure, invest in America’s future, and protect our communities. His commitment to ensuring government works for the Hoosiers of Indiana’s Second District has not and will not waver.”  

Yakym voted in favor of two bills in January that complete all twelve appropriations measures for this fiscal year, according to his website.

Bill Huizenga (R), Michigan’s 4th District:

“Congressman Huizenga believes the latest government shutdown is unnecessary and avoidable. Rep. Huizenga continues to believe that government shutdowns are neither an effective nor a proper way to settle policy disputes.

In fact, Huizenga has taken multiple steps to end the cycle of government shutdowns.  Rep Huizenga has cosponsored legislation, H.R. 5870, to prevent a lapse in funding and require Congress to stay in session until government funding matters are resolved.  

Additionally, Huizenga introduced the No Budget, No Pay Act. This legislation states that if not all 12 appropriation bills and a budget are passed on time, Congress would not be paid until they are. The legislation also stipulates that no back pay would be issued for Members of Congress until the required funding measures are passed.”

Tim Walberg (R), Michigan’s 5th District:

"House Republicans have worked with our colleagues to pass 12 bipartisan appropriations bills, 6 of which have become law, to responsibly fund the government. However, Democrats have partially shut down the government over bills, which they helped draft, to appease the far left and their demands to defund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We cannot put partisan politics over our nation's servicemembers, air traffic controllers, and those needing critical emergency assistance, especially after the historic snowstorm that swept the country. We must get the remaining appropriations bills over the finish line to reopen the rest of the government."