Tired of reading about government shutdowns? Join the club

Tired of reading about how one political party or the other at Congress is going to cause a federal government shutdown as a political strategy because they can’t get their way?

Join the club.

To stop the use of government shutdowns as a political strategy, U.S. citizens can focus on advocating for changes designed to make shutdowns impossible or politically and personally costly for lawmakers.

Here’s some ways.

1. Advocate for Automatic Continuing Resolutions (Auto-CRs). This would be the best way to stop government shutdowns, in my view.

The most direct way to end federal government shutdowns is to pass a law that automatically funds the government at current levels if a new budget is not approved by the deadline. 

If you agree, you can show support for existing legislation, support bills like the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act.

Here’s how it would work: If a budget deadline is missed, an auto-CR would keep federal agencies open at the previous year’s funding levels, removing the threat of a shutdown as a bargaining chip. 

2. Support measures that penalize lawmakers .

Currently, the Constitution mandates that members of Congress and the President continue to receive pay during government shutdowns, while many federal employees do not. 

Let’s support constitutional amendments or bills that would prohibit congressional pay during a shutdown. No pay for Congress during federal government shutdowns!

3. Restrict legislative business.

Let’s advocate for rules that force Congress to stay in Washington, D.C. and prohibit them from working on any other legislation until a budget is passed. 

4. Demand budgetary process reform.

The current budget process is often criticized as dysfunctional, relying on 12 separate appropriations bills that are rarely passed on time. 

Maybe we should support a shift to biennial budgeting: Encourage a move to two-year budget cycles to reduce the frequency of fiscal deadlines.

5. Strengthen budget committees.

We should advocate for reforms that give budget committees more power to enforce long-term fiscal targets. 

6. Engage in direct political action.

As U.S. citizens, we can apply pressure through traditional and grassroots methods to signal that federal shutdowns are no longer an acceptable political strategy. 

Groups like Indivisible or 50501 often organize national days of action to protest government dysfunction.

7. Communicate consequences.

Use the House of Representatives Find Your Representative tool to detail how shutdowns negatively impact your community, emphasizing that voters will hold them accountable in the next election.

Inform your federal lawmakers that attempting to shtudowm government services is no longer an acceptable way to govern this country. 

If the current batch of federal lawmakers do not get the message, then maybe the next batch will.

Sometimes our elected officials just need to be reminded that they work for us. Not the other way around.