When Congress and the President fail to agree on government appropriations and previous funding expires, the result can be a massively disruptive shutdown of the federal government. This occurred most recently in October 2013, and lasted for 16 days.
“Government shutdowns have necessitated furloughs of several hundred thousand federal employees, required cessation or reduction of many government activities, and affected numerous sectors of the economy,” according to a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. See Shutdown of the Federal Government: Causes, Processes, and Effects, updated May 5, 2017.
“Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!” tweeted President Trump last week.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Job Creation in the Manufacturing Revival, updated May 5, 2017
The Meaning of “Made in U.S.A.”, updated May 5, 2017
Review of Offshore Energy Leasing: President Trump’s Executive Order, CRS Insight, May 5, 2017
Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress, updated May 5, 2017
Iran’s Presidential Elections, CRS Insight, May 5, 2017
There is no question this is a Big Deal. If you are a university or research lab, or aspire to work in one, or are simply an enthusiast of federally-funded research, what’s next will matter.
The emerging federal metascience community is asking fascinating questions that are equally vital for democratic legitimacy: beyond “did this program work” to “how does the federal R&D enterprise itself work, and how could it work better?”
If you’re new to the climate intervention space, welcome! The TL;DR: if we can’t stop the most catastrophic impacts of climate change with current tools quickly enough, then we need a bigger toolbox.
After months of delay, the council tasked by President Trump to review the FEMA released its final report. Our disaster policy nerds have thoughts.