US Coast Guard won't see paychecks due to government shutdown

Re:US Coast Guard won't see paychecks due to government shut... by mikeash on Friday December 28, 2018 @07:18PM (#18780598)

Congress could just pass a law saying the government stays open by default, going back to how things were before a few decades ago, and avoid the whole problem.

The executive’s cooperation is not needed here. The president cannot shut down the government. The most he can do is veto a law, and congress can override it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:US Coast Guard won't see paychecks due to government shut... by imron on Friday December 28, 2018 @09:25PM (#18781357)

> The president cannot shut down the government.

And yet for all intents and purposes he has, because he's wielding his veto powers and congress hasn't passed a law to stay open by default.

Now imagine the dynamic where congressional salaries were being withheld also, and is it possible that it could influence the votes of ~10 or so senators Trump needs to get wall funding approved?

Maybe, maybe not, but it's not a healthy dynamic for the president to be able to exert such direct financial pressure on congresspeople.

> Congress could just pass a law saying the government stays open by default

You say 'just', but do you really see the current congress passing such a law? I don't think it is just that simple.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:US Coast Guard won't see paychecks due to government shut... by mikeash on Friday December 28, 2018 @11:20PM (#18781810)

The only thing making any of this difficult is that Congress doesn’t want to do it. If they wanted to find the government, it would be funded. If they wanted to have the government stay open by default, it would be done. It’s not that simple, but only because a substantial part of Congress doesn’t want to do this.

I don’t think this financial pressure would change anything. But it would be trivial to avoid if they wanted to.

[ Parent | on HN ]