ARLINGTON, VA— As the Department of Homeland Security remains in a partial shutdown for the longest period in American history, Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Americans for Prosperity’s Will Burger make the case in The Hill for ending Washington’s shutdown cycle and taking these kinds of reckless tactics off the table for good.
Their solution: the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act to keep government open and hold Congress accountable. No more brinksmanship—just responsible governing.
Read more in The Hill:
Congress Can End Government Shutdowns and Partisan Brinkmanship
Increasingly, Americans are forced to watch the same avoidable drama unfold in Washington: a government shutdown, partisan brinkmanship, and last-minute deals that satisfy almost no one. Federal workers are frustrated with furloughs and missed paychecks. Small businesses that rely on government contracts face constant uncertainty. Federal services are delayed. Markets wobble. Public trust erodes a little more each shutdown.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Congress should pass the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act. Ending shutdown politics is not a partisan victory; it’s a structural reform that serves the long-term interests of the country. It would help restore a functional appropriations process, strengthen Congress’s constitutional role over federal spending and end the stupidity of shutdowns.
Right now, the Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for more than 40 days. TSA officers, Coast Guard personnel, cybersecurity professionals, FEMA staff, customs officials, and federal investigators responsible for fighting drug cartels, human trafficking networks, and child exploitation have been either working without pay or unable to work at all. These are the professionals protecting Americans at airports, ports of entry, and online from cyber threats, they should be supported, not ignored.
The Department of Homeland Security was created after the 9/11 attacks, to ensure the United States never again misses the warning signs that could prevent a tragedy. Yet today, at a time of heightened global tensions and evolving cyber threats, the very department tasked with protecting the homeland is unfunded. That is incompetent governance and irresponsible national security.
Government shutdowns are often described as leverage — tools one party can use to extract concessions from the other. In practice, they harm ordinary Americans far more than political adversaries. The Prevent Government Shutdowns Act addresses this structural flaw directly.
If Congress fails to pass appropriations bills on time, the bill automatically continues government funding at current levels through a temporary continuing resolution and it keeps the congressional negotiations going until they are solved. Under the new law, members of Congress would be required to remain in Washington and continue working seven days a week, until the spending bills are finished. Official travel, recesses and consideration of other legislation would be restricted until the appropriation bills are done. It is as simple as the reality at school of staying after class, if you don’t finish your work.
If the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act passed, federal workers would not suffer the cost of congressional gridlock, members of Congress would suffer the cost. Critical services, from national security operations to airport screening to disaster response, would continue as normal, even as Congress works to complete the appropriations process. This would make a big difference, since the last year all 12 appropriations bills were passed on time was 1997.
Removing the shutdown threat would restore the focus to policy rather than crisis management.
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James Lankford is the senior senator representing Oklahoma and sponsor of the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act. Will Burger is senior federal affairs liaison at Americans for Prosperity.
Read the full article here
Through broad-based grassroots outreach, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is driving long-term solutions to the country’s biggest problems. AFP activists engage friends and neighbors on key issues and encourage them to take an active role in building a culture of mutual benefit, where people succeed by helping one another. AFP recruits and unites activists in all 50 states behind a common goal of advancing policies that will help people improve their lives. For more information, visit www.AmericansForProsperity.org
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