WASHINGTON— Today, Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson wrote an op-ed signaling the potential consequences of an upcoming government shutdown. 

Government Shutdowns are Bad Policy and Politics

By Rep. Mike Simpson    

The full op-ed is available below.     

It’s no surprise that I am extremely frustrated by the possibility that Congress will fail to pass this year’s appropriations bills before the fiscal year ends on September 30th, leading to a potential government shutdown.  What exasperates me even more is the fact that some Members of Congress seem to think that a shutdown is actually a good idea, as if refusing to pass appropriations bills would solve all our spending problems.  Make no mistake: letting the government shut down is neither good policy nor good politics. It is a failure of the responsibility to govern that hurts Idahoans, harms our nation in the short-term, and fails to put us on a more sustainable long-term path to financial stability.   

I strongly support the goal of reduced federal spending and fiscal responsibility, but letting the government shut down doesn’t get us any closer to that goal.  If you’ve ever struggled with your personal finances, you know that turning things around requires a willingness to take small steps in the right direction over and over until you get where you want to be.  This is what the fiscal year 2024 (FY24) House appropriations bills do by reining in wasteful Washington spending and bureaucracy and rightsizing agency funding levels.  What matters most is going in the right direction and staying the course, not how fast you get there.  The American people want their elected officials to have the political courage to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work needed to right the fiscal ship, not refuse to come to the table just to hone their political brands. 

When Congress fails to pass annual appropriations bills and the government shuts down, not only do we lose momentum in getting federal spending under control, but we also lose critical opportunities to change the direction in which our country’s public policy is headed. The House Interior Appropriations bill alone contains both significant funding cuts and important policy provisions that make some of these needed course-corrections. These provisions protect Idaho and western interests from federal overreach, and failing to act on them comes at a high cost to our state.  

The bill includes language I have championed since 2015 that prevents the listing of the greater sage-grouse as an endangered species. This provision is now even stronger because of language I authored to prevent the listing of the bistate population found in California and Nevada. Preventing an ESA listing has helped, not hindered, the commitment to conserve the greater sage-grouse, because all the groups that actually have a stake in the process—states, federal agencies, and those whose livelihoods depend on the health of the land—have been at the table and can take ownership of the plan they’ve helped to create.   

The bill also includes language expanding access to critical minerals to allow domestic production of the minerals that are crucial for our national defense and in technologies we use every day.  Without action we will continue to depend completely on sourcing these minerals from countries like Russia and China, who could cut off our supply at any time and jeopardize our national security. 

Perhaps most significantly, the bill includes language to block the Biden Administration’s continued misguided attempts to target farm families, small businesses, and property owners nationwide by expanding federal jurisdiction over Waters of the United States (WOTUS).  Failing to pass these bills not only fails to address these problems, but it keeps in place misguided Biden Administration policies that expand federal government overreach and negatively impact Idahoans.  This is a steep price to pay for an ill-advised show of political one-upmanship.  Anyone who votes against these appropriations bills is voting to maintain Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden’s policies.  

These political games have very real consequences for your friends and neighbors. To Idaho, a government shutdown means thousands of furloughs for government workers and contractors, no new vouchers to homeless veterans through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a halt to U.S. Small Business Administration loans, and the closure of our national parks, just to name a few impacts.  

In addition, more than 17,000 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees will face furlough if the government shuts down this year, and as a result veterans’ services will be impacted. One of the most important things I do as a U.S. Representative is help people with federal problems. During a shutdown, the VA halts communications with congressional offices and we can no longer assist with constituent casework.  

A handful of my colleagues believe the American people would not notice if the government stopped operating. But what happens when our constituents need help with a federal agency, and nobody answers the phone?  This kind of shutdown means my office can’t open casework to help Idahoans get their VA benefits, obtain a passport, or navigate a dispute with the IRS.  

A government shutdown jeopardizes the pay of our military service men and women who put their lives on the line for us.  It jeopardizes the pay of our brave border patrol agents on the front lines of Biden’s border crisis, and it prevents our hard-working civil servants from carrying out their service to the American people.  Many Idahoans are hurt when Congress refuses to govern.  The impact of a government shutdown is significant, and groups like small businesses, the military, or our veterans should never pay the price for government dysfunction. 

I take very seriously my responsibility to Idahoans to promote responsible government spending, balance the federal budget, and reduce burdensome regulations.  We cannot accomplish these goals if the federal government is shut down.  I strongly believe we can address our nation’s significant policy disagreements without causing Americans to suffer the uncertainty of a shutdown, and that is the outcome I will continue working toward with my colleagues to enact bills that reduce federal spending, balance the budget, and get our economy on a sustainable, healthy path for the future.