АҚШ үкіметінің қаржы тапшылығынан қызмет тоқтауы

Cessation of "non essential" government services in the United States due to a funding lapse

In the United States, government shutdowns occur when funding legislation required to finance the federal government is not enacted before the next fiscal year begins. In a shutdown, the federal government curtails agency activities and services, ceases non essential operations, furloughs non essential workers, and retains only essential employees in departments that protect human life or property. Shutdowns can also disrupt state, territorial, and local levels of government. Funding gaps began to lead to shutdowns in 1980, when Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued a legal opinion requiring it. This opinion was not consistently adhered to through the 1980s, but since 1990 all funding gaps lasting longer than a few hours have led to a shutdown. As of February 2024, 10 funding shutdowns have led to federal employees being furloughed. The most significant include the 21 day shutdown of 1995–1996, during President Bill Clinton’s administration, over opposition to major spending cuts; the 16 day shutdown in 2013, during the Barack Obama administration, caused by a dispute over implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA); and the longest, the 35 day shutdown of 2018–2019, during the Donald Trump administration, caused by a dispute over expanding barriers on the U. S.–Mexico border. Shutdowns disrupt government services and programs; they close national parks and institutions. They reduce government revenue because fees are lost while at least some furloughed employees receive back pay. They reduce economic growth. During the 2013 shutdown, Standard & Poor's, the financial ratings agency, said on October 16 that the shutdown had "to date taken $24 billion out of the economy", and "shaved at least 0.6 percent off annualized fourth quarter 2013 GDP growth".

While government shutdowns before 1995–1996 had very mild effects, a full federal government shutdown causes a large number of civilian federal employees to be furloughed. Such employees are forbidden even to check their e mail, a prohibition that some agencies enforce by collecting government issued electronic devices for the duration of the shutdown. Because of the size of the government workforce, the effects of a shutdown can be seen in macroeconomic data. During the 2013 shutdown, for example, 800,000 employees were locked out, payment was delayed to 1.3 million workers, confidence in the job market decreased for a month, and GDP growth slowed 0.1–0.2%. The complete effects of a shutdown are often clouded by missing data that cannot be collected while specific government offices are closed. The 2018–2019 shutdown curtailed safety and law enforcement investigations, caused air travel delays as essential workers stopped showing up, shut down some facilities for Native Americans and tourists, and delayed regulatory approvals and immigration hearings for non detainees. The exact details of which government functions stop during a shutdown is determined by the Office of Management and Budget.

"Emergency personnel" continue to be employed, including the active duty (Title 10) military, federal law enforcement agents, doctors and nurses working in federal hospitals, and air traffic controllers. Mail delivery is not affected as it is self funded and the funds are not appropriated by Congress. Some offices, such as the Patent and Trademark Office, can rely on operating reserves to remain open for a few months. Sometimes the Washington, D. C. municipal government remains open. For example, during the 2013 shutdown, the city remained open because mayor Vincent C. Gray declared the entire municipal government to be essential.

For the Department of Defense, at least half of the civilian workforce, and the full time, dual status military technicians in the US National Guard and traditional Guardsmen (those on Title 32 status) are furloughed and not paid while the shutdown is in effect. Programs that are funded by laws other than annual appropriations acts (like Social Security) may also be affected by a funding gap, if program execution relies on activities that receive annually appropriated funding. In 2019, following the end of the 2018–19 shutdown, Michael Shindler argued in The American Conservative that shutdowns protect popular sovereignty. He writes, "No other political phenomena so forcefully and dramatically obliges the whole people to recognize that their ideological divisions have become so great that the exercise of their sovereignty has become virtually impossible," and "During a shutdown, the government, which is bound by elaborate mechanisms to the national will, becomes confused. For a moment, it seems as if the march of American history is at a standstill. There are only two means of moving forward: either government officials follow the will of something other than the nation or the nation engages in a momentous reconciliation of its will."

On 1 May 1980, during the presidential term of Jimmy Carter, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was shut down for one day after Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill for the agency, due to going against his political beliefs and goals. Prior to the shutdown, a review had been made of the 1884 Antideficiency Act regarding Congressional approval of agency funding. Initial opinion on the subject had been that this did not require a government agency to be closed down in the wake of the expiration of their funding, before Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti overruled this opinion with his own on 25 April 1980, stating that a provision of this act stipulated to the contrary. Five days later, the FTC was shutdown after Congress delayed funding for the agency, in order to seek approval for an authorization bill to limit the agency's investigative and rule making abilities, following criticism of the FTC's aggressive monitoring of the economy. The 1980 shutdown was the first time a federal agency shut down due to a budget dispute. Around 1,600 federal workers for the FTC were furloughed as a result, The shutdown ended after one day when Carter threatened to close down the entire US government if Congress did not pass spending bills by 1 October later that year. Economists of the time estimated that the 1 day shutdown of the FTC cost the government around $700,000, the majority of which was back pay for the furloughed workers. In the aftermath of the shutdown, Civiletti issued a revised edition of his original opinion on 18 January 1981, detailing that shutdowns would still require agencies that protect human safety or property to continue operating if funding for them expired. after Reagan vetoed a proposed appropriation bill that contained a reduced set of spending cuts than he had proposed for select government departments. While the shutdown affected only a number of government departments, economists of the time believed that it cost taxpayers an estimated $80–90 million in back pay and other expenses over the entire day. Congress was forced to remove both of the opposed elements of the bill and include funding of the Nicaraguan Contras as a compromise to end the shutdown. in order to pressure Congress to agree on a full year omnibus appropriations bill more quickly. All government agencies were affected by this shutdown. It ended after Congress passed the omnibus appropriations bill later that day. Economists estimated that this shutdown cost the U. S. government $62 million in lost work. and major cuts in spending towards benefit programs, including Medicare, to combat the deficit. On 5 October 1990, liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, led by then House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich, opposed the initial appropriations package, with Bush vetoing the second resolution to the spending bill the following day on 6 October. The shutdown lasted until 9 October, when Bush agreed to remove his proposed tax increases and reduce the amount of spending cuts, in return for Congress providing a concession on the amended bill to allow for increasing income tax on the wealthy.

Between 1995 and 1996, the US government faced two shutdowns during the presidential term of Bill Clinton, who opposed proposed appropriation bills for 1996 by congressional Republicans, who had a majority in both chambers, and House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Both Gingrich and the majority of Congress sought to pass bills that would reduce government spending, much against Clinton's political objectives for 1996. Clinton objected to funding cuts affecting education, the environment, and public health. One proposed bill threatened to block a scheduled reduction he had planned towards premiums within Medicare. Both sides had differing opinions over the impact the proposed House bills would have over economic growth, medical inflation, and anticipated revenues, with Clinton vetoing the bills over amendments added to them by congressional Republicans, despite Gingrich threatening to refuse to raise the country's debt ceiling. Clinton's presidential term was improved by the shutdown and cited as part of the reason behind his successful re election to the White House in 1996. Some effects of the shutdowns included the government, tourism, and airline industry losing millions of dollars in revenue during this period, with disruptions made towards the processing of passports and visas, and work on medical research and toxic waste cleanup being halted.

The shutdown of 2013 occurred during the second Obama term, focusing on a disagreement between Republican led House of Representatives and the Democratic led Senate towards the contents of the 2014 Continuing Appropriations Resolution bill, alongside other political issues. Congressional Republicans, encouraged by conservative senators such as Ted Cruz, and conservative groups such as Heritage Action, sought to include several measures to the bill in late 2013 that could delay funding for the 2013 Affordable Care Act (ACA) and thus allow time for changes to be made to the act. Both Obama and Democratic senators refused to agree to these measures, seeking instead for the bill to maintain government funding at then current sequestration levels with no additional conditions. The shutdown took place on 1 October 2013, as a result of an impasse over the contents of the bill, with the House unable to approve any CRs before this date. Democrats opposed further efforts by congressional Republicans, led by House Speaker John Boehner, to delay funding of the ACA, and rejected piecemeal Resolution bills proposed by them to resolve the shutdown. As Congress was at an impasse amidst rising concerns that the US would default on public debt, US senators particularly then Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid negotiated a deal to end the deadlock. approved an amended Resolution bill that would keep funding at sequestration levels, temporarily suspend the debt limit until 7 February 2014, and included a concession to congressional Republicans on the ACA by applying stricter income verification rules in regards to health insurance. Boehner eventually withdrew further objections and delaying attempts against the ACA upon the country being within hours of breaking its debt limit on 16 October 2013. Congress approved the bill for Obama's signature the following day. The 16 day shutdown had considerable impact upon the United States: approximately 800,000 federal employees were put on furlough, while an additional 1.3 million had to report to work without any known payment dates during this period, costing the government millions in back pay; major government programmes concerning Native Americans, children, and domestic violence victims, alongside the legal processing of asylum and immigration cases, and sexual assault cases handled by the Office of Civil Rights, were badly disrupted by the shutdown; tourism was greatly impacted due to the closure of national parks and institutions during the shutdown and cost the government millions in lost revenue; and US economic growth was reduced during this period. In political circles, the shutdown had a negative impact on Republicans, as over half of Americans held Republicans accountable for the deadlock, in comparison to public opinion on the accountability of both the Democrats and Obama during this period.

The shutdown of January 2018 was the first to occur during the presidential term of Donald Trump and was centered around a disagreement on the issue of immigration. By the start of October 2017, Congress had failed to approve an appropriation bill to fund the US government in 2018, and instead passed three CRs to keep federal agencies open until 19 January 2018. The failure to establish a permanent spending bill was due to Democratic senators insisting that any proposed House bill needed to include funding for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy and assurances against deportation for immigrants that fell under the DREAM Act. Republicans refused to pass such bills, citing that discussions on immigration and those individuals under DACA would not be held until mid March of the following year. A senate vote to extend the 2018 Continuing Appropriations Resolution on 19 January 2018, which had passed a congressional vote the previous day, failed to achieve a majority, after Democratic senators led a filibuster aimed at forcing Republicans to invoke a shorter duration of CR and thus invoke negotiations that could lead to extensions of the DACA policy. but failed to achieve a majority, as Democrats sought a shorter duration of CAR to force negotiations. The shutdown took place on 20 January 2018, and led to approximately 692,000 federal workers being furloughed. An attempt by Democrats to protect the payment of military personnel during the deadlock was rejected by Republicans, after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that funding had to be restored for the entire US government rather than for individual government branches. Despite the bill's failure, both sides engaged in negotiations that eventually culminated with a deal on a proposed stopgap measure to fund the government for four weeks as part of the proposal, Democrats agreed to end their filibuster and approve the Republican's measure, in exchange for fresh talks on the DACA policy and DREAM Act within newly proposed Resolution bill. The measure was approved in the House and passed a Senate vote, effectively ending the shutdown on 23 January. The impact of the shutdown was not as severe as in previous deadlocks most government departments, such as the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, were able to continue their functions during the 3 day deadlock despite their workers needing back pay in the aftermath, and only a third of National Parks in the United States were closed down. In the aftermath of the shutdown, the Senate debated on a bill for the 2018 Bipartisan Budget Act to provide 2 year funding for the military, and provide an extension to the Resolution to keep the government funded for another six weeks. However, the negotiations suffered delays that triggered the brief 9 February spending gap, though this merely lasted for nine hours, causing little disruption.