Dear Neighbor,

I’m here in Washington this week, doing everything possible to pass a budget and avoid a costly government shutdown. I have been on the House floor past midnight each day this week voting on spending bill proposals and amendments from the Republican majority that have zero chance of passing the Senate or becoming law. It’s a frustrating experience.

We have less than three days to pass a budget and avoid a shutdown. You all know that I am an unrelenting optimist, but at this stage, a government shutdown looks more and more likely by the day as Republican leadership digs in, and sides with the extremists in their party, instead of honoring their promise from May to pass a budget at 2023 levels. I wanted you to have as much information from me as possible; just the facts. First, what’s happening and how did we get here; second, the impact of a government shutdown; and finally, what you can expect from our office in the event of a shutdown (preview–we’ll still be here for you, no matter what). 

What’s happening: The state of the shutdown in Washington

It was not inevitable that we got here, and it’s still not inevitable that we shut down. 

Here’s what’s getting lost in a lot of the media coverage–we’ve actually already solved this problem. We had an agreement the last time we had a standoff about how to spend our nation’s money in May, when we avoided falling off the financial cliff, we reached a bipartisan agreement for how we would deal with these funding questions through the next presidential election.

Instead of honoring that agreement and funding the government before the September 30th deadline, Republican leadership has us voting on four of the eleven spending bills that we need to fund the government. Again, these have no chance of becoming law.

So far this week, we’ve voted on amendments to four of the spending bills – Agriculture, Defense, State and Foreign Operations, and Department of Homeland Security. We are set to vote on all of these amended bills today and Friday. In addition, House Republicans, in a desperate attempt to secure enough votes to pass their own bills and placate their extremist base, are asking us to vote to remove $300 million in funding supporting Ukraine from the defense spending bill.

There’s also a possibility that we vote on what’s known as a “continuing resolution” to fund the government on Friday or Saturday.

As a reminder: Any action we take to fund the government would have to pass both the House and the Senate and be signed by the President by Sept. 30th at 11:59 p.m. to avoid the shutdown. So, we’re really coming down to the wire here.

What a government shutdown would mean: Impact on Michigan

A government shutdown would be devastating for Michiganders. Here’s what’s at stake:

Over 16,000 active duty and reserve personnel serving our nation's armed forces in Michigan would be forced to work without pay.

More than 200k women, children, and infants across our state would lose access to nutritious food through the WIC program.

The Department of Agriculture would be forced to stop processing housing loans, which help thousands of families in rural Michigan buy homes every year.

The Small Business Administration would stop distributing small business loans. In a state where 87% of our businesses are small, that funding is crucial to keep our businesses open.

These are just some of the many impacts of a shutdown we’ll see here at home. West Michigan and our entire country cannot afford this.

This is why folks are losing trust in government. These political games hurt people and have serious, devastating consequences in West Michigan and in every community across this country. We saw this when our delay in raising the debt ceiling cost the United States its AAA credit bond rating, and we will see it now in a government shutdown.

Even if we are able to avoid a costly government shutdown, the work we are having to do litigating a disagreement that we already solved distracts us from doing very important work – including reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration to keep travelers safe, fixing our broken immigration system, and reauthorizing the Farm Bill to support our country’s agriculture communities.

Again, we’ve already addressed this crisis. Starting back at square one and fighting fights that we’ve already settled are getting in the way of us being able to solve other problems facing our country.

The Government Shutdown & Our Congressional Office–We’re still here for you!

Here’s the good news – my team and I will still be here to serve you no matter what. You can still reach out to us. You can give us a call at (616) 451-8383 and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We will continue working around the clock to make sure your opinions are heard and your needs are met. We’re not quite sure at this point if federal agencies will actually be able to work on or start casework requests during a shutdown, but we will let you know when we do. If you need to submit a casework request during the potential shutdown, we will still get your case ready for when the government reopens. If you submitted a case already, don’t worry! You don’t have to resubmit your materials, and our team will continue to keep you updated on the status of your case.

Here in Congress, it feels like we’re on a slow moving training heading straight for a cliff and Democrats are trying to stop it, but the conductor is dead set on going over. But let’s be clear – a shutdown was never inevitable. And it’s still not. It’s entirely preventable, and Speaker McCarthy can still avoid it.

The only way that this is going to be fixed is if House Republicans come back to the table, honor their word, and work with Democrats to fund the government.

I’ve made clear to my Republican colleagues that I’m willing to work together to get this done. That’s what West Michigan and our country deserves. As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says, “there’s no education in the second kick of the mule.” I’ll be sure to keep you updated as things progress, and am hoping that we can come together to reach a solution soon.

It’s an honor to serve you, West Michigan.

Sincerely,

Hillary Scholten
Member of Congress