Congress Looks for Shutdown Solution as August Recess Approaches

As members of Congress prepare to leave Capitol Hill for the August recess, lawmakers are working to avoid a potential shutdown if they fail to pass the spending bills needed to fund the government before the Sept. 30 deadline.

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives pushed a Continuing Resolution, a short-term spending measure, to fund the government through Nov. 21. But the ramifications of a shutdown are still top of mind for many, with some seeking to find new ways to incentivize members to stay until business is finished.

Senator James Lankford (R-OK) proposed the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act to eliminate shutdowns by triggering a 14-day period in which lawmakers are banned from leaving Washington, D.C., until the spending bills are finished.

“We all have to stay here, and it is required in this,” Sen. Lankford told House members during a committee hearing earlier this week. “We have a quorum call every day. We cannot go into recess for more than 23 hours, so it requires everybody to be here.”

Most notably, Sen. Lankford said his bill would mean shutdowns don’t come at the cost of government workers like past shutdowns have.

“It holds the programs, the contractors and the federal family, the workers that are out there, holds them harmless because they can't do anything about us not resolving things,” he said.

After two government shutdowns earlier this year, thousands of Department of Homeland Security employees went without pay. Some recalled the stress of reporting to work without compensation while political leaders in D.C. remained deadlocked over government funding.

Representative John Carter (R-TX) said this was his biggest concern when weighing the impact of a shutdown. He said he does not want “lazy” government procedures hurting his constituents.

“Fort Hood has around 15,000 civilian employees,” Rep. Carter said. “The federal contractors who work for them are some of the hardest-working people we got anywhere in our county.”