SENS JAMES LANKFORD, MAGGIE HASSAN: Congress should suffer shutdown pain, not the American people

For the past decade, Americans person watched a wasteful Washington play unfold each year: authorities shutdowns that endanger our economy, jeopardize our information and wounded families each crossed our country.

Each clip determination is simply a shutdown, the American radical are caught successful the middle. Make nary mistake, authorities shutdowns are not a theoretical oregon a procedural exercise, they person existent consequences each crossed the country. The past shutdown outgo our state much than $11 billion.

In caller shutdowns, we've seen agelong lines, up to six hours, conscionable to get done airdrome information due to the fact that TSA went unfunded. Air postulation controllers — the radical who support the skies harmless for america to alert — went without pay. Veterans and seniors had a harder clip accessing the benefits they’ve earned due to the fact that those services crushed to a halt. The Small Business Administration was hamstrung successful its quality to enactment entrepreneurs trying to support their tiny businesses afloat.

Families were faced with the imaginable of having their SNAP benefits adust up arsenic they tried to provender their children. Government shutdowns successful the past person adjacent threatened our quality to wage work members who assistance support our state free. Government shutdowns amusement the world, America's friends and foes, that the world's top ideology and largest system tin beryllium held hostage by politics.

SENATE PLOTS PERMANENT END TO GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS WITH BIPARTISAN PUSH

Travelers hold successful agelong information lines astatine George Bush Intercontinental Airport successful Houston, Texas, connected March 27, 2026, amid a authorities shutdown and deployment of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents to easiness congestion. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP)

For immoderate of the loudest voices successful our politics, authorities shutdowns whitethorn sometimes look similar an appealing mode to aboriginal people governmental points successful a cablegram quality hit, connected societal media, oregon connected the run trail, but let's beryllium clear: The American radical ever wage a precise existent price.

Americans person had capable of this destructive, chaotic benignant of politics. Both governmental parties person caused authorities shutdowns successful the past, truthful we judge some parties should find a mode to marque them stop.

We person worked together, a Senate Republican and a Senate Democrat, to suggest a elemental principle: No substance however overmuch we reason astir our nationalist budget, the American radical shouldn’t wage the terms for Congress failing to bash its occupation connected time. That committedness helped america write, the "Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2026," which takes shutdowns disconnected the array and pushes Congress to fulfill its work to negociate and walk full-year backing bills.

SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS, WHO DOESN'T AND HOW MUCH IT COSTS

Here’s however it works: If Congress fails to walk immoderate of the 12 appropriation bills connected time, an automatic Continuing Resolution (CR) kicks successful to support paying national workers and programs astatine the existent year’s spending level. However, Members of Congress and our unit would beryllium required by instrumentality to stay successful Washington, D.C., voting 7 days a week, until we solved our fund impasse. The House and the Senate would beryllium restricted to lone debating the appropriation bills until they were completed. It is arsenic elemental arsenic staying aft schoolhouse to decorativeness your unfinished classwork.

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It whitethorn dependable simple, but it is simply a extremist alteration from the presumption quo. Congress would consciousness the unit and symptom of a shutdown, alternatively of the American radical and national workers. Air postulation controllers, work members, national instrumentality enforcement, healthcare professionals, researchers, scientists and thousands of others would beryllium capable to proceed serving the American radical and would nary longer beryllium pawns successful governmental standoffs. Because holding national employees' paychecks and captious national services hostage doesn’t lick argumentation disagreements; they conscionable hurts families.

We brought our measure to the Senate past league and earned beardown bipartisan support, but we fell conscionable short. We were lone 3 votes distant from ne'er having a authorities shutdown again. Since that time, we person experienced the longest shutdown successful American history. A increasing radical successful the Senate and House has expressed its tendency to yet extremity the chaos. We besides person the beardown enactment of aggregate partisan and nonpartisan organizations, on with the American Federation of Government Employees.

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We each recognize that changing immoderate of the presumption quo successful Washington is ne'er easy, adjacent if the presumption quo is failing. But it is painfully evident that the existent strategy isn’t working, and we request a caller way to settee our disagreements.

Americans disagree connected galore issues; successful fact, the 2 of america disagree connected galore issues, but we powerfully hold that it’s clip to instrumentality shutdowns disconnected the array for good.

Democrat Maggie Hassan represents New Hampshire successful the United States Senate. She served arsenic politician of New Hampshire from 2013 to 2017.

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