Latest news with #governmentshutdown
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
We Better Pray That No Unexpected Crisis Hits While Trump Is President
If you live in the United States, you are in greater jeopardy today than you were six months ago. So is your family. So are your friends and neighbors. Virtually all of the most important parts of the U.S. government that were created to protect the U.S. from the greatest risks we face are being shut down, gutted, or marginalized. What is more, plans and statements of the president and his advisers suggest further cuts are contemplated that increase the likelihood that one or more crises will catch us unawares and that when that happens, we will be much less equipped to handle it than we have been in decades. Our early warning capabilities, our planning tools, our interagency coordinating mechanisms, and the resources available to the government to respond to crises have all been greatly diminished. This will remain true despite planned increases in defense and homeland security spending—especially as those resources are directed at illusory 'invasions' and nonexistent 'insurrections.' It will remain true despite—and even to a degree because of—costly and distracting displays of military and law enforcement muscle-flexing. Area after area of the government with responsibility for anticipating, preparing for, and handling major national security threats has been affected. Despite news reports addressing some of these developments individually, the scope of the changes to institutions, personnel, budgets, and policy, and the interrelated and cumulative consequences of those changes, must be better understood and reversed. This should not be a partisan issue. It impacts red states and blue, Democrats and Republicans, cities and rural areas, rich and poor, all of us. Furthermore, this is not an abstraction. Every area impacted is demonstrably one that recent history has shown should be of urgent concern to us. At the core of this critical situation is the effective lobotomization of our government's national security 'brain' and 'nervous system.' We have not had a dedicated national security adviser to the president since May 1 when Mike Waltz resigned. In the intervening six weeks, this critical role has ostensibly been filled by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But not only does Rubio have a massively challenging job as secretary of state, he is also serving as interim head of the U.S. Agency for International Development and as acting archivist of the United States—head of the agency responsible for preserving all the government's records. None of these tasks is minor. None can be performed on a part-time basis. Although it has been observed that Henry Kissinger once held both the top State and National Security Council positions, that was considered such an error that President Gerald Ford told me when I interviewed him for my history of the NSC, Running the World, that undoing the arrangement was one of his most important decisions as president. The State Department is undergoing a major reorganization while dealing with the complex and volatile world situation. USAID, a crucial tool of U.S. foreign policy and one with a vital role to play in helping to contain disease and conflict worldwide, is effectively being dismantled. Rubio is also taking on roles that many former secretaries of state did not get deeply engaged in, like determining who should be granted or denied visa status. In addition, his burdens are increased because there is no confirmed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and more than 70 other ambassadorial positions remain open. Rubio simply could not effectively do what he is being asked to do even were he not also being given the most critical national security policy development and coordinating role in the White House. Making matters dramatically more challenging, on May 23, the White House announced the elimination of 100 jobs within the National Security Council, reducing its professional staff to its smallest size in decades. Furthermore, there are credible reports that further cuts are likely, with some estimates suggesting the president is considering reducing the NSC staff to half of its over 350 positions or even further to 'just a few dozen people.' This would make the NSC smaller than it has been in decades. But for an entity that is responsible for monitoring the world and threats to our national well-being and then coordinating the development of policies and the implementation of the plans approved by the president, as big a blow as the cuts are, more important is that the entire NSC process is being marginalized by a president who has repeatedly and recklessly made it clear he does not feel he needs advice. His refusal to hold regular intelligence briefings and reports of his resistance to consuming written intelligence illustrate this point. So do his decisions to appoint top aides to national security posts like Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who are among the least experienced ever to hold their jobs. As events surrounding the military deployment in Los Angeles illustrate, Trump has sought aides not for their counsel but for the willingness to do unquestioningly what they are told. (This point is supported by contrasting the resistance Trump received from his secretary of defense and chairman of the joint chiefs to plans to deploy the military against Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 with the reflexive support of Hegseth for the legally questionable moves against protesters in California.) Rubio has indicated that the NSC cuts target it as a stronghold of the 'deep state.' But of course, the president can appoint anyone he wants to the NSC staff; therefore, drastically reducing the agency's role is not the only way of addressing the issue of the loyalties of staffers. Cuts in its bloated staffing were certainly justifiable. What is not defensible is so drastically weakening the advice available to the president, the quality of that advice, or the ability to coordinate interagency actions in support of presidential decisions. The diminution of the NSC's role might not increase the risks faced by the U.S. so drastically if at the same time the NSC was shrunk and sidelined other national security agencies were strengthened—especially those associated with critical crisis areas. But that is clearly not the case either. Essentially all overseas roles in USAID are being eliminated. The State Department plans to do away with nearly one out of five employees. Thousands are expected to be cut from the U.S. intelligence community. The president has expressed a desire to disengage from the United Nations and minimize other alliances and international institutions that have played a multilateral crisis management role in the past. NATO in particular, our most important alliance, has been weakened even as the position of our enemies and rivals has been strengthened by changes to our policies and priorities. The president's 2026 budgets calls for over $500 million in cuts at the FBI—which plays a crucial role in U.S. counterintelligence activities. Some of the FBI's most experienced professionals have been removed from their offices. The Department of Justice has cut U.S. efforts to stop foreign interference in our elections. Chillingly, the government's main coordinating mechanism with the Department of Homeland Security for managing counterterrorism threats has been downgraded dramatically, with the appointment of a 22-year-old with virtually no experience of any sort to head it. The president has announced he is considering eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency and handling all disaster response decisions personally. The ability to anticipate hurricanes and help people prepare for other environmental disasters will be harmed by cuts to the parts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that handle those duties. Even cuts to public broadcasting will make it harder for information about natural disasters to get to rural areas. Elevating individuals who don't believe in climate science certainly also makes matters worse. Cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services have hobbled our ability to predict or respond to pandemics or bioterrorism. Cuts to Medicaid will hinder our ability to prevent or respond to disease outbreaks—once again with impact on rural communities being most negative. Programs to develop and promote vaccines that could help prevent such health disasters have been eliminated, as has vital expertise in epidemiology and immunology, among other key areas. Even the parts of the government that help us avoid and control financial crises have been weakened dramatically, and financial institutions have been given more latitude to repeat past or invent new forms of risky behavior. Rather than learning from the experiences of our own lifetime, from terror attacks to wars to financial crises to the pandemic, we are actually increasing the chances we relive them or worse in the near future. We cannot anticipate what will come next. With the volatility in the Middle East at the moment, increasing violent extremism at home and abroad, bird flu, measles and tuberculosis cases regularly being reported, market volatility due to trade uncertainty, and the start of hurricane season, what we do know is that serious risks are everywhere. But what is clear is that whatever the next crisis may be, we will be less able to handle it, and our citizens, our economy, our allies, and our country will suffer. It is time for the Congress to live up to its oaths and reverse these trends. It is essential voters recognize the dangers that are accruing to their own communities and lives. Furthermore, those who may aspire to be responsible for the national security decisions in any future government should be developing plans over the next couple of years that can be quickly implemented to reverse the damage that is being done to our ability to protect our citizens.
CBS News
03-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Minnesota lawmakers continue to finish work behind the scenes, layoff notices go to most state workers soon if they don't pass budget
Minnesota lawmakers continued their behind-the-scenes work on Tuesday as they eye a partial government shutdown next month if they don't complete the next two-year state budget by July 1. Most state employees will receive layoff notices next Monday if a special session approving those spending plans isn't over by then, Gov. Tim Walz's office said. Walz won't officially call lawmakers back to the capitol until all of the remaining bills are ready to go. Lawmakers have been in mostly private meetings to make that happen, finding agreement and then sending it to the revisor's office for drafting. Key lawmakers have been meeting in "working groups" since the May 20, after the regular session ended, to sort out the details of each unifinished bill. Some broader agreements and actual proposals are posted on the Legislature's website, including a K-12 spending package. If they don't complete their work by the deadline at the end of the month, state services and programs would only partially shut down because some parts of the budget did pass before adjournment last month, including funding for the courts, attorney general's office, and agriculture and veterans departments. State workers in those agencies would be held harmless. The last time there was a government shutdown was in 2011. Four years ago in 2021, lawmakers in a divided capitol narrowly avoided one, passing the remaining parts of the budget June 30 during a special session. DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy told WCCO Sunday she hopes there will be a special session this week, but legislative leaders and key negotiators have blown past other self-imposed deadlines the last few weeks. What's unclear is how the Legislature will approve a part of a budget deal between legislative leaders and the governor that would remove undocumented immigrant adults from a state program providing health care coverage, which is sparking outcry among several DFL lawmakers. Murphy has said it needs to be a stand-alone bill, while GOP House Speaker Lisa Demuth wants it to be part of a broader health package.
CBS News
01-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
State leaders hopeful for Minnesota budget deal ahead of special session
Thousands of Minnesota state workers will be getting layoff notices in the next few days because the Legislature has failed to come to a budget agreement. If the budget standoff continues through the end of this month at the Minnesota Capitol, there will be a state government shutdown on July 1 — the first time that's happened since 2011. For weeks, legislative leaders insisted they would have a balanced budget by the end of the session on May 19. That obviously didn't happen. The state is required to adopt a balanced budget every two years, and this is one of those years. And right now, the Legislature has a lot left to do. Among the bills not passed is the E-12 Education budget, representing about 30% of the total state budget, and the State Health and Human Services budget, which accounts for about 28%. Despite half the budget unfinished, leaders continue to be optimistic. DFL Majority Leader Erin Murphy, who was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning at 10:30 a.m., says she's hopeful a budget will be ready so Gov. Tim Walz can call a special session for the Legislature to vote on it. "Gosh, even this week, we're hoping that it can be this week. I know everybody needs to give the revisors the time to draft the legislation," Sen. Murphy said. While the Minnesota House is tied at 67 Republicans and 67 Democrats, the Senate has a one-vote DFL Majority at 34 to 33. That slenderest of margins is one reason that reaching an agreement has proved so difficult. Another hold up has been the issue of free health insurance for undocumented immigrants. Legislative leaders — including GOP Speaker Lisa Demuth, DFL Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, Sen. Murphy and Walz — agreed to roll back the benefit for undocumented adults and leave it in place for children. But the pushback has been swift and strong. DFL legislators immediately protested the rollback agreement, even demonstrating at the governor's offices. Sen. Murphy says with the slim majorities, a compromise had to happen. "It is a very, very difficult vote for me and it is a very contentious issue for my colleagues, and rightfully so," she said. "But it was a chief priority for the Republicans." With DFL legislators deeply fractured, it's unclear how and when a new budget deal will be finalized. Walz says only when the deal is completely set will he call a one-day special session so the legislature can vote on the budget and he can sign it.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Beer shortages, dirty parks: What happens without a Minnesota budget deal?
The Brief Minnesota is now one month away from its first government shutdown since 2011. For 20 days that July, the state laid off 19,000 workers. State parks and rest areas didn't get cleaned. Horse tracks couldn't operate because the Minnesota Racing Commission was closed. And liquor stores, restaurants, and bars started to run out of beer because the DPS employees who renewed alcohol licenses were laid off. Leaders are optimistic they'll avoid a shutdown in 2025. They're expecting a special session as soon as next week. But some high hurdles still need to be jumped for that to happen. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - There was no obvious movement on Friday towards a complete budget deal at the Minnesota Capitol, but legislative leaders say they're confident a special session should come next week. They have one month to avoid the first government shutdown since 2011. What's shaking? A few privately arranged agreements popped up on the legislature's website Friday, leaving just three omnibus budget bills to sew up. But there are still some big hurdles to jump and legislators who were at the Capitol for the last shutdown are hearing some echoes of 2011. Like a semi overturned in the Lowry Hill tunnel blocking traffic, cutting MN Care insurance for undocumented adults while keeping it for kids could block the road to a budget."If that is to pass, it's going to have to pass separately," said Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul). "That has not been a part of the discussion in the rooms," said her House counterpart, Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring). Maybe we have For now, the blockage doesn't seem as immovable as it was in 2011 when a GOP majority in the House and Senate couldn't convince DFL Gov. Mark Dayton to sign off on a budget. Then-Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch says this year sometimes feels the same, but she sees differences. "They have more like pots of trouble where we had like the one big thing," Koch said. Parks, horses, beer During a 20-day government shutdown in 2011, the state had to lay off 19,000 state workers, forcing closures at state parks and rest areas, and stressing out a lot of people. "I didn't know if it was going to last two hours, two days, two months, two weeks," state worker Brice Wickstrom told FOX 9 after the 2011 shutdown ended on July 21. Horse tracks couldn't operate because the state racing commission was shut down, so Canterbury Park lost nearly $3 million. That won't happen this year because a new law allows the commission to continue working with outside funding. But a beer shortage could once again ail liquor stores, bars and restaurants. "They're just disgusted," Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association rep Tony Chesak told FOX 9 about those businesses in 2011. "They're upset to the point where they're just trying to stay in business."State employees responsible for renewing alcohol licenses could be out during a shutdown. Koch believes that was a major motivating factor convincing Gov. Dayton to agree to Republican terms and end the shutdown. She hoped it would be a political winner. "We're going to run on this budget," she told FOX 9 in 2011. "We're going to talk about closing $5 billion forecast deficit without raising taxes. That's a big thing." The GOP lost both the House and the Senate in the next election, but budget forecasts have stayed sunnier. "Since then, we've never had a deficit," Koch said Friday. Until now, that is. The latest forecast predicted nearly a $6 billion deficit by 2029, which is one of many reasons this year's negotiations have been so difficult.
CBS News
28-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Budget talks continue at Minnesota Capitol as health insurance for undocumented adults drives DFL wedge
Budget talks continue at the Minnesota Capitol but still no breakthrough in reaching an agreement on a balanced budget. Legislative leaders walked into talks some without saying much on Tuesday. "People have worked through the last few days, so we will see," said Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth. DFL Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman sounded slightly more optimistic, saying "we are hoping to wrap things up this week." One of the biggest obstacles is a DFL divide over free health insurance for adult undocumented immigrants Protestors took over the hall outside the governor's office, furious that he and DFL Senate Majority leader back a compromise that would take the health insurance benefit away from undocumented adults but leave it in place for children. "The governor is saying he will stand strong but will he, if he goes back on his promises on immigrants what else is he going to go back on," said Erika Zurawski, who protested the policy. If no agreement is reached by June 1, layoff notices will start going out to state employees. The final deadline is June 30. If there is no agreement by then the state will enter a government shutdown — the first since 2011. During the 20-day 2011 shutdown thousands of nonessential state workers were furloughed. And while public safety employees including the state patrol kept working, state parks were all shut down
