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Legality of the Government Shutdown

1/25/2019

 
By: Charles Carson

A government shutdown is a rare occurrence. There have been exactly twenty-one government shutdowns throughout US history, and half of those have not lasted more than a weekend.  In some terms there have been upwards of 8, Ronald Reagan's for example, but for the most part it is a seldom occurrence, they generally last only for a short period and go pretty unnoticed. Most people are not aware or affected by them.
This is not the case in the DMV area. Many government workers are on a hiatus, but not from their actual work, just from their pay. Each Government agency has its plan for the shutdown, which brings many of the agency’s activities to a halt. Only “essential services” remain open, most of which are related to public health and safety, such as medical care, air-traffic control, border protection, and power grid maintenance.  Even with these remaining active, the population is still affected greatly.
In 2013 when the shutdown included the IRS, there was a backlog of 1.2 million search requests, delayed mortgages, and loan approvals.
This shutdown has been the longest in U.S. history, spanning over some time of 34 days as of today, January 24th.  On January 12th it broke the previous record of 21 days, set in 1995. This is not something to be proud of, as 800,000 federal workers are not receiving a paycheck, and the loss of these government services is affecting millions more.  One can only sustain himself for so long until you run out of money to spend, even when you're only covering necessities. Many of these workers are running their tanks completely dry.
How can this be legal?  Technically, it’s not. State and Federal laws regarding pay (Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA) encompass most all businesses in the United States.  Although there are different overtime pay laws for public employees, the laws state the minimum wage, when employees must be paid, and who must pay overtime. FLSA laws also set recordkeeping and youth employment rules for the majority of public and private sector jobs. Neglecting to abide by them is in most cases a federal crime.  
Does the government get some sort of exception to these rules? Many believe the government’s decision to not pay their workers while still forcing them to work, is unconstitutional and they have tried to put an end to it in the courts. Federal employee unions have requested a temporary restraining order, blocking the government from demanding their employees to work without compensation, which was denied by a U.S. District Judge in Washington.  The law states that if you have employees, you must pay them, this applies to all but generally companies that are going under or are not making a profit because they need somewhere to cut expenses. This is not the issue the government is having; they need to shut down due to the conflict over building the wall. While so many workers are angry about there lack of income, a bill was recently put in place ensuring they would be fully compensated in pay when the shutdown reaches its demise.
This is great news but does not mean they will not still suffer due to all the debt some have acquired. Although the last two Senate bills attempting to end the shutdown have failed there is an end in sight.

Political Powers Cause Shutdown

1/25/2019

 
By: Bryson Shaw

Can’t come to an agreement has been a phrase we have been hearing for thirty-four days now. Thirty-four represents the number of days the government has been shut down, and the number of days that the Republicans and Democrats can’t get along to strike a deal to end this madness.
The shutdown started when Donald Trump requested $5.7 billion to fund the building of his planned border wall. The Democrats won the house this past term, entering the house seats at the start of 2019. The speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the house Democrats decided against accepting President Trump's request, therefore causing friction between the house and the Senate, leading to the Shutdown of the government. What attempts have been made to end this shutdown in the past thirty or so days?
Nothing besides minor arguments and power struggles have taken place thus far. President Trump has made himself very clear, he will keep the government shutdown for however long it takes until he gets the money he asked for for the wall. He wants $5.7 billion, nothing less. This is why he rejected an offer from the House of $1.3 Billion dollars offer that came in the early days of the shutdown.  
When that offer was declined, things only got worse. Nancy Pelosi says Trump will get no money, news that Trump responded to by threatening with a state of emergency. Declaring a state of emergency due to threats from the southern border would allow Trump to use military funds to build the wall. However, Trump is keeping that threat in his back pocket for now
More tension between Trump and Pelosi came when Pelosi was set to fly on a military plane on a tript o the middle east. Trump told Pelosi she could not use a government plane to fly overseas since the Government was shut down, Suggesting that she could fly commercially.
Without an agreement in sight, the American citizens are fed up, and government workers are suffering. Last weekend, President Trump thought the problem would be resolved. American people got excited to hear this news. Meetings between President Trump, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer took place over the weekend of January 19th-20th. With a hope to put this mess all away, Trump offered the Democrats extension of programs DACA and TPS in return for the money for the wall. These programs are both set up to protect immigrants. Sadly, Pelosi and the house did not accept the offer.
All of this has led to today. Day thirty-four and still nothing in the sight of a resolution. Government workers are suffering. Families are suffering. It is time to let the egos go, and strike a deal for the American people.

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    Check out Alumni Joe Sageman's ('13) Blog called "Half Deep."

    It's good to see a former Bulldog staffer still writing!

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