U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti was destined to be a footnote in U.S. history. The plan was for him to quietly serve during the last year and a half (1979-1981) of President Jimmy Carter’s administration, but he ended up authoring an opinion that is reverberating today.
It was Civiletti who authored the legal opinion requiring government to shut down when there are funding impasses after a previously covered appropriations period has expired. All funding gaps lasting longer than a few hours since 1990 have led to a shutdown. As of February 2024, 10 funding gaps had led to federal employees being furloughed.
The current funding gap is number 11. That’s where the nation is today, with most federal government services being shut down, including funding for programs administered by nonprofits. Roughly 750,000 federal workers are off the job. The sticking point is the demand by Democrats that healthcare programs be funded, particularly for Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies.
It is never sure how long a shutdown will last. One Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit lobbyist who spoke on background, and who once thought the current interruption would be a long closure, now believes there might be the votes for a seven-week continuing resolution (CR) that reopens the government. In the U.S. Senate, 60 votes are needed to pass a CR. Such a measure failed 55-45 yesterday, with senators John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania), Catherine Cortez Mastro (D-Nevada) and Angus King (I-Maine) voting to keep it open. At least three more Democrats are believed to be ready to vote to reopen, meaning just two more votes need to be found.
The federal government shut down at midnight last night when the White House failed to reach a bipartisan agreement on a continuing resolution to keep the government open and funded. “Government shutdowns disrupt the vital work of nonprofits in local communities, preventing them from delivering the critical services on which the American people rely,” said Diane Yentel, president & CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits. “Nonprofits are already facing enormous financial and political challenges … and the longer it lasts, the more severe the harm to people and communities. Congress and the White House must act quickly to reopen the government and allow nonprofits to continue their vital work.”
When it comes to nonprofit executives discussing the shutdown with constituents and local media, it should first be said that the sector should not be in this position in the first place, explained Ann Hollingsworth, vice president, government affairs, at The Nonprofit Alliance. “We should not be used to such uncertainty in the regular appropriations process, but the lack of passage of the majority of appropriations bills as we reach the beginning of a new fiscal year has unfortunately become a pattern,” she said.
Yentel explained that when public-private partnerships are disincentivized, federal programs are less effective. One of the talking points from Yentel’s organization is that nonprofits act as first responders in a crisis, but they cannot address increased needs caused by a government shutdown without resources. “When the government is shut down and millions of households cannot access the resources they need, they often turn to nonprofits to step in and fill the gaps,” according to Yentel. “In the face of higher demand and without federal support, nonprofits squeeze their already modest budgets or look to state or local governments or philanthropy to help serve growing needs in their community.”
