Government shutdown 2011: live updates
US federal government shutdown looms as Obama and John Boehner battle over budget and Planned Parenthood funding
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Lights burning late in the Capitol building as a federal government shutdown looms over budget negotiations. Photograph: David Ake/AP
So what's next? Aside from the fact that we haven't seen the deal yet. Looking further ahead to April or May, there's the issue of the debt ceiling, which dictates how much the US government can legally borrow.
On CNN, Republican senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas tells Anderson Cooper: "The debt ceiling is going to be Armageddon." So there's that to look forward to.
(Here's an explanation of the debt ceiling and why it matters.)
NBC News is reporting that a source inside the Republican convention says a deal is getting done, and a stop-gap resolution giving Congress five or six days grace.
Well they better get a move on. Less than 90 minutes to actually pass any stop-gap legislation before midnight.
ABC's Jake Tapper says on Twitter that "Both sides reviewing language right now ... nerd/staff level, at this point".
So if I was taking bets, I'd place money on an agreement that drops the Republican riders on Planned Parenthood, contain overall budget cuts of around $38bn to $40bn to fund the federal government to the end of the fiscal year at the end of September.
Sounds like a good deal for the Republicans.
Two hours to go. Cox Radio's Jamie Dupree says "Cheering and applause heard from the closed door GOP meeting in Capitol."
Whatever the deal is, The Hill reports that it could still be derailed by hold-outs:
With little more than 2 hours before the midnight deadline, House and Senate leaders will need to pass some type of funding measure by unanimous consent to avert a shutdown.If one legislator balks, the government will shutter.Under the rules of the Senate, a bill cannot be moved quickly unless it clears by unanimous consent. If there is an objection, a cloture motion must be filed and approved – a process that takes days.
Even before the budget deal is announced, the angry Tea Party reaction is already appearing: this tweet is from Judson Phillips.
"Whoops! Cat out of the bag," says Brian Beutler, with ascreenshot of what appears to be a press release from Nebraska's Republican senator Mike Johanns, sent out prematurely.
In it, Johanns welcomes "the three-day budget agreement reached by bipartisan negotiators ... that prevents the shutdown of the federal government".
So that's that, then – but more details needed.
The Republicans are gathering at 9.30pm in Congress to discuss what is presumably the deal that's on the table. AP reports:
Republican leaders have called the party's House rank and file to a highly unusual late night meeting in the Capitol to discuss budget negotiations with President Barack Obamaand Senate Democrats.The meeting comes about three two hours before a midnight deadline to avoid the first government shutdown in 15 years.Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling says that at this point there is no deal. But negotiators have been exchanging offers all day.
Politico also has news of deal, in heavily hedged terms:
The threat of a government shutdown diminished late Friday night after White House and congressional negotiators reached agreement on controversial policy riders in the stalled government funding measure, and closed in on a final compromise on cuts around $40 billion.
Is it all over? The National Journal has what is says is news of a deal that has been reached: the Republicans to drop defunding Planned Parenthood in return for a further $1bn in cuts, and further emergency financing to keep government going:
Numerous GOP and Democratic sources on and off Capitol Hill tell National Journal that the outline of the deal is as follows: up to $39bn in cuts from the 2010 budget, $514bn in spending for the defense budget covering the remainder of this fiscal year, a GOP agreement to abandon controversial policy riders dealing with Planned Parenthood and the EPA, and an agreement to pass a "bridge" continuing resolution late Friday night to keep the government operating while the deal is written in bill form.House appropriators' staff began meeting in Speaker John Boehner's office about 7.45pm EDT, a sure sign of preparing floor action for another stopgap spending bill, the seventh in a process that began last year when Democrats failed to pass the necessary spending bills to fund the government for this fiscal year.The proposal under review could form the basis of an agreement on a six-month continuing resolution that averts a government shutdown of longer than a few days. The prospective measure would cut spending by about $39 billion from current levels, two aides said. It would not include a ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood, but part of the arrangement would likely be an unspecified and symbolic procedural step intended to give Boehner and conservatives political cover on the issue, the aides said. Democrats appear to have accepted an increased level of cuts in exchange for the GOP dropping the rider.
The US department of defence has a transcript of a briefing with senior officials earlier today, going into great detail about the effects on the military and their families:
Let me start by saying I very much hope we can avert a government shutdown. It'll be harsh and unfair to our people. It will be inefficient and disruptive.But we are a country of laws, and if we go through a government shutdown, we will follow the law, and that's important to realize. We won't be following a set of priorities, necessarily, but rather a specific set of laws, the Anti-Deficiency Act and exception to it. The Anti-Deficiency Act basically says if we don't have an appropriation, we can't obligate or disburse funds, except with some very narrow exceptions for safety of life and protection of property. And based on those exceptions, we can maintain key national security functions - the war in Afghanistan, the transition in Iraq, the Libya operations, the humanitarian operations in Japan - and other key national security missions, and the support that's directly required for the legal, financial, acquisition.
According to all news networks we are "waiting to hear from Senator Harry Reid on budget talks".
The Associated Press has more details on Planned Parenthood and its funding:
Planned Parenthood said it performed about 330,000 abortions last year, 3% of its total health care services. The organization also said its doctors and nurses annually conduct one million screenings for cervical cancer, 830,000 breast exams and some four million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases.
...The organization said it receives $363m in federal funds, getting its money from both the Title X program and Medicaid. Title X provides grants for family planning and related health services under a law signed by Republican President Richard Nixon in December 1970.Of the Title X money, Planned Parenthood gets about $70m, some 25% of the $317m in Title X spending. The organization's annual budget is $1.1bn and includes individual donations.Federal law bars Planned Parenthood from using tax dollars for abortion. In 1976, three years after the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment which bars the use of taxpayer funds for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.
Gawker's Jim Newell has a different angle on what's behind the whole government shutdown:
This government budget crisis has produced at least one very welcome offshoot for Barack Obama: It gives him an excuse to cancel a family vacation to lame Colonial Williamsburg. Maybe that's been the goal all along?
Four hours to go until the shutocalypse begins.
Latest news: there may or may not be deal, according to sources.
GOP: don't retreat! The country is going broke. We can't AFFORD cowboy poetry & subsidizing abortion.less than a minute ago via web 
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At last: Sarah Palin has broken her silence of several minutes, via Twitter.
America can't afford cowboy poetry? And of course "subsidising abortion" with federal funds is already illegal. Oh and the country isn't going broke. Other than that, spot on.
The Republicans have been at a loss at how to defend their effort to defund Planned Parenthood, a major sticking point between the two sides over a budget deal.
What was clear, however, was that Democrats were winning the spin war for the first time in recent memory. Throughout the day, the party organized impromptu press conferences to slam conservatives for risking a government shutdown over a measly $350m in funds for Planned Parenthood. First, a gaggle of Senate Democratic women assembled in a TV studio in the early afternoon to talk up what Planned Parenthood actually does – provide STD testing and cancer screening and contraception for low-income women. (True, Planned Parenthood also provides abortion services, but federal funds are already barred from going toward that.)
John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives, on the phone with President Obama this evening Major Garrett at the National Journal gets a flavour of opinion within the House Republican caucus after speaker John Boehner addressed them on the state of negotiations:
Boehner refused to disclose specifics on what has been agreed to and what remains to negotiate, telling the assembled Republicans at one point: "Talking to you people is like talking to a press conference." On questions of what riders were settled and which were still being discussed as well as which cuts had been agreed to, Boehner was, in the words of one senior House GOP aide "strategically opaque.""Definitely the sentiment in the room was he's in the middle of negotiations, that he's fought the good fight, stood up for the conference and that we need to close the deal," the GOP aide said.The overwhelming sense among House Republicans attending the conference was that a shutdown would be averted and a compromise on the spending levels and policy riders would be acceptable to the vast majority of the conference.
New York Times blogger and stats guru Nate Silver looks back at the 1995/96 government shutdowns and argues that a shutdown in 2011 wouldn't necessarily have a big impact on opinion poll ratings of those involved:
I wouldn't want to characterize the shutdown as being politically unimportant — clearly it's not a trivial event, and clearly there's some significant amount of uncertainty in just how the public might react. But my guess is that its political impact is likely to be exaggerated by some of my friends in the press.
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A protest at the DC residence of Republican leader John Boehner is planned tomorrow by Washington residents, disturbed at the shutdown of their local government services such as garbage collection in the event of a federal government shutdown.
The Facebook page "If Boehner shuts down the government I am taking my trash to his house" has nearly 8,000 people saying they will attend. According to the page:
UPDATE ON TOMORROW'S PEACEFUL AND NONVIOLENT ACTION- We'll meet at Capitol South Metro tomorrow at 9:30 and lead a walk toward the Speaker's house.- Despite the title of the rally, bringing trash is NOT REQUIRED. Bring yourself and, if you can, make a sign. Don't bring lots of dirty, gross trash. Come in a costume if you'd like!
Fox News is reporting that a deal is "close, we may even have it" later this evening, and mentions "cascading press conferences" – an exciting prospect surely – being scheduled.
Chicago Sun-Times blogger Lynn Sweet hears Illinois Republican senator Mark Kirk say that a deal is near:
A shut down could still be averted, Kirk said. "There is precious little distance between the President and the Speaker over spending," Kirk said.House and Senate Republicans, by the way have a split over the Planned Parenthood issue: it is being fueled mainly by House Republicans – not Senate Republicans – Kirk noted.Kirk predicts no shutdown: "These things have a way of wrapping themselves up around 10, 11 o'clock in the evening," Kirk said.
Quite how Kirk would know how "things have a way of wrapping themselves up" since he's been in the Senate a grand total of three months.
A Fox News reporter explains that a government shutdown would affect government functions "whether it be national parks or FBI child porn investigations".
Here is a round-up of all the latest rumours. There are four main theories currently circulating:
• There is a deal.
• There isn't a deal.
• There might be a deal.
• There won't be a deal.
Six hours to go. There are various rumours of a deal, none of them credible, but let's see.
My guess is that the Republicans will back down on the Planned Parenthood defunding in exchange for a few billion more cuts. But who knows.
This being America, someone has already spotted a business opportunity and started selling t-shirts on the back of a government shutdown:
Are you officially an "essential" government employee? Well, now you can buy a t-shirt advertising it to the world and rub it in to your "nonessential" colleagues!The shirts, which come in 12 different colors, and are priced to sell at $17, are tagged with the slogan: "Officially Essential 2011."Get 'em while you still got disposable income. Or before negotiators strike a deal and render the tees moot.
Democratic party Senate leader Harry Reid says if there is a government shutdown, he'll pass on his pay cheque:
"If Republicans cave to their extreme Tea Party wing and force a government shutdown, I will join federal employees in forgoing a federal salary until compromise can be found," Reid said. "I will continue working in the hopes that cooler heads will prevail."
Politco, the hyperactive Washington news junkies, finds that the Tea Party grassroots aren't happy, because they think the Republicans should have gone for bigger cuts.
One Tea Party activist even accuses Michele Bachmann of going soft:
Mark Meckler, a national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, took issue with Bachmann's comments during an interview Thursday night with Fox News. "Obviously, there was no agreement tonight, but that doesn't mean that there actually will be a shutdown or that there won't be agreement tomorrow," Bachmann told host Greta Van Susteren. "I think there's a very good chance that there will be."
Continue ReadingBut the tea party movement is taking a hard line on the need for deep spending cuts, and Meckler said Bachmann's comments have his group's membership "flipping out.""Her message was not consistent with the overall tea party message at that moment," Meckler told Politico Friday afternoon, reiterating the need for Republicans to deliver the $100 billion in cuts they promised during the midterm election campaign.
Ask a simple question: Is the government shut down?
It's bad enough living in Washington DC as it is – what with the Legoland architecture and the rats – but with its major industry closed down it goes from being the capital of the free world to just a humid swamp with mediocre restaurants.
The District of Columbia's government closes along with the federal government in the event of a shutdown, as the New Yorker's blog points out:
If Congress fails to reach a compromise on the budget tonight, we residents of DC will not have our trash picked up. We won't be able to use our public libraries because they'll all be closed. We won't be able to conduct any business at the DMV, because it won't be open, either. On the plus side, we can park anywhere we want, because parking enforcement will be suspended.That's because in budgetary impasses like this one, the city of Washington DC is considered a federal agency. Like other federal agencies, it will be allowed to maintain essential functions – the fire and police departments will not be affected, for example, Nor will public schools, though a lot of parents were confused on that point this week. But otherwise, DC will be shuttered along with the federal government.
We also can't take our children to the zoo or the swimming pools because they are also closed. Time to move to Virginia.
With less than seven hours to go, over on Fox News Glenn Beck's show has been dropped in favour of government shutdown crisis mode rolling coverage.
Fox News also goes one up on the other cable news channels by showing a countdown clock down to tenths of a second. It makes it more exciting, obviously.
Update: Beck is appearing on the O'Reilly Factor tonight, discussing "his future".
Some people are just never happy. Michele Bachmann – the highly conservative Republican from Minnesota – thinks the current budget fight is small potatoes:
Democrats only want to cut $33 billion of spending, while some reports say Republicans might settle for $40 billion. Either way, it's not enough. We should be playing "big ball." We should be fighting over trillions, not billions. We should be defunding ObamaCare, but we're not.
There's a magazine called Military Spouse, and it is blogging the possible effects of a shutdown, including news that base hospitals will have reduced staff and childcare facilities will be closed.
Don't give me your huddled masses: Statue of Liberty will be closed CNN reports that the Statue of Liberty in New York will be closed for visitors in the event of a shutdown.
The Statue of Liberty National Monument is administered by the National Parks Service, and they will all be closed.
How will a shutdown affect non-Americans? Well, if you want a visa to visit, work or study in the US, as of Monday US embassies around the world will not taking or processing applications – if there is a shutdown.
Similarly, if you want a US passport after Monday, you're out of luck.
Based on the latest noises from the Republican and Democratic leadership, the two sides don't appear to be getting closer. The New York Times compares the two positions:
In a terse statement to reporters, the speaker of the House, John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, said there was "only one reason we do not have an agreement yet, and that is spending," and asked, "When will the White House and when will Senate Democrats get serious about cutting spending?"Moments later, Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, the majority leader, said the two sides were in agreement on dollar figures, and then offered a long, scathing criticism of Mr. Boehner and House Republicans, accusing them of wanting to shut down the federal government by insisting on cutting funds for women's heath services."This is indefensible, and everyone should be outraged," Mr. Reid said on the Senate floor. "The Republican House leadership have only a couple of hours to look in the mirror, snap out of it and realize how truly shameful they have been."
Folks are sharing their real experiences of how Planned Parenthood has helped them and why they #StandWithPP. Check it out at #MyStoryless than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet Reply
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Planned Parenthood is campaigning against the cuts in its federal funding, and using its Twitter account @PPact to enlist supporters to fight on its behalf.
Planned Parenthood's director Cecile Richards is interviewed by the Huffington Post about being used as a political football by Republicans:
Richards said she is frustrated that the Planned Parenthood rider is being misleadingly portrayed as a fight against "abortion funding," when so many patients in rural and medically underserved communities depend on Planned Parenthood clinics as a primary health provider."One in five women in America have been to a Planned Parenthood health center for basic health care," she said. "Ninety-seven percent of our services are basic preventative care that women rely on in communities across this country. Women and men of all parties and all walks of life are concerned about these kinds of efforts to play politics with women's health care access."
Stars and Stripes, the newspaper of America's armed forces, rounds up the fears of US military and their families posted overseas regarding the possibility that they will go without pay in the event of a shutdown:
The first question soldiers stationed in Iraq asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates during his Thursday stop had to do with military pay.Gates said if the government shutdown begins on Friday and lasts for one week, troops would get half a paycheck midmonth. If it continues from April 15 to April 20, he said, troops would not get a paycheck.In that scenario, all troops eventually would be back-paid in full for the affected time, Gates said."When I start to think about the inconvenience that it's going to cause these kids, and a lot of their families, even half a paycheck delayed can be a problem for them," he later told reporters. "So I hope they work this whole thing out."
The Think Progress blog has more on this subject.
On the Guardian's Comment Is Free America section, Amanda Marcotte explains why Planned Parenthood has become a target for Republicans:
Planned Parenthood has become a symbol of the kind of government spending that fiscal conservatives reject. The clientele of Planned Parenthood is the intersection of many groups that are considered unworthy by fiscal conservatives: lower-income, female, assumed to be unmarried and/or queer. Conservatives have argued, roughly forever, that such women should be cut off from any federal spending, with the hope that deprivation will force them to marry for sustenance. If women can avoid childbirth, they're less needy, and in the conservative imagination, that much more likely to avoid getting married for support. The fact that Planned Parenthood touches on the anti-sex faction of the Republican party is an added bonus, ensuring that they'll have rabid support from anti-choicers.
The Guardian's Ed Pilkington writes about the role of Planned Parenthood, the health organisation that has become the main hurdle between Democrats and Republicans on the federal budget:
The battle over the budget has seen a revival of the culture wars of old, with negotiations over a shutdown that could put 800,000 federal workers temporarily out of work coming down to a dispute over abortion.The leadership of the Republican party has made a block on federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which also offers services such as birth control and cancer screening, a requirement of approving the budget.
For those non-US readers who aren't familiar with Planned Parenthood, here's the organisation's own description:
Planned Parenthood is America's most trusted provider of reproductive health care. Our skilled health care professionals are dedicated to offering men, women, and teens high-quality, affordable medical care. One in five American women has chosen Planned Parenthood for health care at least once in her life.The heart of Planned Parenthood is in the local community. Our 84 unique, locally governed affiliates nationwide operate more than 800 health centers, which reflect the diverse needs of their communities.These health centers provide a wide range of safe, reliable health care — and more than 90 percent is preventive, primary care, which helps prevent unintended pregnancies through contraception, reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections through testing and treatment, and screen for cervical and other cancers. Caring physicians, nurse practitioners, and other staff take time to talk with clients, encouraging them to ask questions in an environment that millions have grown to trust.
More information [pdf] here.
Nine hours to go. Will there be a deal?
The New York Times's The Caucus blog has details on the war of words between Harry Reid and the Republicans about a budget deal that may or may not have been reached last night, and which Reid says the Republicans have now reneged upon:
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said he received an email at 4am Friday morning indicating that Republicans were backing away from a deal they had reached the night before on how much money to cut from the budget.Mr. Reid said that he and Speaker John Boehner had reached a deal on the spending part of the dispute during the White House negotiating session Thursday night. But he said Republicans later said the deal was off."Last night, it was agreed upon," Mr Reid told reporters as he stood in front of a tableau of all of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate.A spokesman for Mr. Boehner disputed Mr Reid's comments, saying that the parties never settled on a funding level that both sides could agree on.
As the federal government nears a shutdown, government departments are releasing estimates of how many employees could be "furloughed" – the polite term for suspension – and how many will be deemed "essentially".
The National Journal has a round-up here.
The Washington Post has a Q&A on the effect of a government shutdown, including this bad news:
Do I still need to do my taxes if the government shuts down?Quick answer: Yes. You need to finish your taxes on time (postmarked April 18) in order to not incur a penalty for filing late. However, officials familiar with plans warned privately that the IRS would cease processing refunds for paper-submitted tax returns.
That doesn't seem fair, somehow.
What effect will a US government shutdown have on the US's global status? Council on Foreign Relations fellow Sebastian Mallaby tells CNN how a shutdown could affect American foreign policy:
I think there are two channels to think about. The first is a reputational one, where allies around the world look at theUnited States and say, "Gee their political system is so dysfunctional they can't even keep their government open, so what kind of a reliable ally can they be?"I don't want to overstate that because obviously in a government essential personnel including the armed forces are not going to be furloughed and any potential shutdown is probably not going to last very long, but I think there is some additional cost to American reputation – its reliability and competence.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid is saying that he is trying to work something out in the Senate with Republicans about a possible short-term funding bill – a continuing appropriations request.
But his major point is that the Republican leadership did a deal last night, agreeing to $78bn in cuts, but have now walked back on that deal. He explains that "John Boehner has a problem with his caucus" – implying that Boehner couldn't bring House Republicans with him.
He may look like a bank manager but Harry Reid has a useful ability to insert a stiletto.
Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, is speaking at the Democratic press conference – and accuses the Republicans of wanting to shut down the federal government over women's access to healthcare.
"If that sounds ridiculous, that's because it is," says Reid, who lists the dangers of a shutdown: a drop in US GDP, harm to American intelligence gathering, obligations to allies around the world.
Reid mentions that the Smithsonian, "one of the world's greatest museums," will have to shut down at midnight. "And all because of women's access to healthcare."
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The Senate Democrats are holding a live, mass press conference to talk about the budget battle. All the Democratic senators are on stage and they all look very happy – but that's because they are on TV, which always makes senators very happy.
For a handy way of keeping track of the government shutdown and related news on Twitter, follow @Govt_Shutdown
Federal employees have been told not to even turn on their Blackberries if there is a government shutdown, according to the National Journal:
White House staffers face the threat of up to two years in jail if they use their work-issue BlackBerries during a government shutdown, sources told National Journal.Staffers have reportedly been "read the riot act," warned not to use the devices. "People are VERY clear on not using BlackBerries [if they're nonexempted] after a shutdown," one source said, speaking on condition of anonymity in discussing an internal White House matter with the press. "Same with nonexempted [employees] using their personal BlackBerries [for government work]. Total nonstarter."
On the plus side, it might be possible to work on the sidewalk in Washington DC without having to dodge the "Blackberry blind" pedestrians going to and from work.
The list of government agencies that will be disabled by the government shutdown is a long one, and reaches deep within the US economy and American society. The New York Times reports:
Among the people anxiously waiting to hear if Congress can reach a budget deal are front desk clerks at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, manufacturing executives whose companies supply goods to federal agencies, bank loan officers who make mortgages guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration and Wall Street analysts who depend on a steady flow of government data.
Some things will continue. Medicare and Medicaid services – the main source of healthcare for the elderly and the poor – receive mandatory funding, so they will be unaffected by the shutdown.
Here's the latest summary of how negotiations are proceedingbetween Congress and the White House, from my colleague Ewen Macaskill in Washington:
Obama, after a late-night meeting at the White House with Boehner and the Senate leader, Harry Reid, sounded optimistic that a deal could be reached. He said staff from both sides would work through the night to bridge the remaining differences. "I am not prepared to express wild optimism," the president said. "But I think we are further along today than we were yesterday." He is expecting an early answer from the Republicans to prevent the steps necessary to impose a shutdown being put into action.The Democrats said agreement had been reached on about 70% of the issues. A senior Democrat in the House, Steny Hoyer, told NBC "there's no deal yet, unfortunately". He said he was embarrassed about the country being on the brink of a shutdown, but "you can't negotiate on the basis that one side gives 100% and the other gives zero".The Republicans want a cut in the federal deficit of $40bn (£24bn). The Democrats made a compromise offer of $34.5bn on Wednesday. The new sticking points are mainly the areas where the Republicans want cuts – abortion programmes and environmental protection – on which the Democrats refuse to give way.
Republican leader John Boehner says his goal is to 'make real cuts in spending'. Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters In less than 11 hours from now the US government will lose its funding and effectively shut down – causing around 800,000 federal employees not deemed to be "essential" to take forced unpaid leave with an uncertain end date.
By refusing to pass a bill allowing the federal government to be funded, the Republican dominated House of Representatives is forcing a showdown with the White House and Barack Obama. If the shutdown occurs, Washington DC will grind to a halt and the full panoply of modern government services, from national parks to passport applications, will be closed for the time being.
America's armed forces and other parts of the country's infrastructure will continue to earn wages, although how they will actually be paid them is another matter.
In 1995-96, a similar battle between Democratic president and Republican speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich saw the government shutdown as the Republican majority choked off its funds. But the move backfired on Gingrich – and helped Clinton sail to re-election as president later that year.
Will history repeat itself? As the clock ticks closer to midnight, where is Jack Bauer when America needs him?
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