Federal lawmakers are nowhere near an agreement to fund the government before it runs out of money on Oct. 1.
Republicans and President Donald Trump have pushed for a short-term funding bill while Democrats in the Senate have demanded concessions, most notably the extension of enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act coverage, to fund the government.
During a government shutdown, federal employees work without pay and some are even at risk of being furloughed. National parks and national museums are also closed during a shutdown.
Both Republicans and Democrats say the other side is to blame for any potential shutdown. Republican strategist Karl Rove, however, believes that the American people will blame Washington D.C. as a whole, rather than the president, a group of senators or representatives or a political party if a shutdown does occur.
In a column written on Thursday for the Wall Street Journal, Rove writes that the outcome of a shutdown depends on three factors.
“First, which side gets their way and therefore looks stronger, as Mr. (Bill) Clinton did in 1996. Second, which party makes a better case to voters and energizes its coalition, as the GOP did in 2014 and Democrats in 2020. Third, whether other issues loom larger in the nearly 14 months between now and the midterm elections. In our chaotic politics, it’s likely something will,” Rove wrote. “But no matter what, the biggest shutdown loser will likely be public trust in Washington writ large. Voters see shutdowns as the result of gross incompetence by our leaders.”
In his column Rove cites statistics from the National Election Study dating back to its foundation 1958. He writes that when the study started, 73% of Americans said they trusted the federal government.
“Today, 22% do (trust the government), a figure that has been close to constant for decades. Washington’s inability to get its fiscal house in order is a big reason why,“ Rove said. “Sadly, Washington doesn’t seem to have learned how to avoid shutdowns. But the politics of it are ever surprising.”