Some Congressional Democrats said they are considering a government shutdown in March in response to United States President Donald Trump’s administration dismantling programs and agencies.
Federal government funding expires on 14 March and in order to avoid a shutdown, Congress will need to pass legislation designating new spending or extend current ones.
One of the democrats in favour of the potential shutdown is Senator Andy Kim, who told NBC’s Meet the Press that the current administration needs to be held accountable.
“You have to look at what the Trump administration is doing right now. They are simply trying to dismantle the government,” he said.
“I cannot support efforts that will continue this lawlessness that we're seeing when it comes to this administration's actions.
Democrats, including Kim, have argued that many of the Trump administration actions, including the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a now-rescinded directive to freeze federal grants – are unconstitutional because they ignore congressional spending directions put into law through the annual appropriations bill.
“And for us to be able to support government funding in that way, only for them to turn it around to dismantle the government, that is not something that should be allowed.”
Over the last two years, the Republican-controlled House has needed Democrats to pass extensions as several conservatives oppose them.
"They should not count on that this time around," Kim said.
Government funding is one of the Democrats’ few points of leverage in the federal government, where Republicans are in control of the House, Senate and White House.
However, once the government funding expires the Republicans will only control the House 217-215, meaning they will need total unanimity to pass a bull in the chamber.
As well as this, the Republicans control the Senate 53-47 - which is below the 60-vote threshold needed to bypass the filibuster, meaning they would need Democrat support to stop the shutdown.
Kim said while the shutdown may be necessary, he hopes it does not have to reach that point.
I would be the last person to want to get to that stage, but we are at a point where we are basically on the cusp of a constitutional crisis,” he said.
“Until we see a change in that behaviour, we should not allow and condone that nor should we assist in that.”
In the event of a government shutdown, all governments that are not deemed essential including the operation of national parks and Food and Drug Administration food safety inspections will be put on hold. Nonessential government workers are also furloughed without pay until the government re-opens.
