KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last Friday, President Biden signed a short-term funding extension sent from Congressinto law. This averted another government shutdown — but only temporarily.
This is the third time in four months Congress has approved a stop-gap spending bill instead of a long-term funding solution. It was a rare event – with two partial shutdowns on the table that were averted to new deadlines of March 1 and March 8.
For some government workers, like at the Internal Revenue Service in Kansas City, this process is not getting any easier to go through as their paychecks are on the line.
KSHB 41 news reporter Claire Bradshaw spoke with IRS Employee and National Treasury Employee Union steward Daniel Scharpenburg back in September when the original government shutdown worries began. Then, Scharpenburg told KSHB 41 News he and many fellow government workers live paycheck-to-paycheck. Since the first of three short-term spending bills was passed, Scharpenburg said he has been trying to prepare for a possible shutdown as uncertainty hangs in the air.
"I've been trying to put money away in case there's a shutdown," Scharpenburg said. "Although, like 64% of Americans, many of us that work for the federal government live paycheck-to-paycheck. So putting extra money away is hard, but it feels like the only thing we can really do to get ready for this is just try not to worry and hope for the best."
Scharpenburg said he and his coworkers have been writing to Congress asking for their cooperation in passing a complete budget. He is glad he can count on his next paycheck since another shutdown was averted, but he admits this has been stressful to watch play out in Washington, D.C.
In the meantime, he said government offices, like the IRS, are constantly on guard.
"In the workplace, too, we have to get ready for a potential lapse in funding, and I know government agencies have to spend time and energy getting ready, and deciding who's going to have to work and who's not going to have to work and just making sure everything's set up to go smoothly, because sometimes when the government shuts down, it doesn't go smoothly," Scharpenburg said. "So a lot of work has to be put into getting ready in case it happens."
The March 1 and 8 deadlines affect different departments. On March 1, funding would expire for the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.
On March 8, funding would expire for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, State, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior, Labor, Education and Health and Human Services. That is roughly 80% of the federal government.
The continuing resolution extends the time Congress has to draft and pass appropriations bills for the rest of this fiscal year. That ends on Sept. 30, 2024.
