The American Congress has numerous powers that are vested upon it by the constitution. As such, the Congress is mandated to pass legislation and its actions have a significant impact on the running of the American government. Usually, the Congress constitutes the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the recent past, the Congress has had several bills in addition to making varied actions that have a considerable effect on the American economy.
In December 2018, the Congress presented a bill to the President seeking to have the government shutdown deadline extended ( Carter, 2018) . A government shutdown makes reference to a situation where the Congress does not pass bills that allocate resources to the government agencies. A standoff between the Congress and the president has seen the Congress fail to pass appropriation bills noting that the president is demanding for funding for the building of the border wall.
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The partial shutdown has negative effects on the economy with workers affected by the shutdown having reduced productivity. Furthermore, tax refunds will be delayed and a dent to the business and consumer confidence in the American economy.
The Congress draws immense power from the constitution under the “Anti Deficiency Act” requiring that taxpayer money spent without the Congress’ appropriation is a felony ( Warner, 2018) . It is the role of the Congress to make funds allocations provided the funds are collected from taxes. Government spending that is mandatory is not subject to shut down while on the other hand, nearly thirty-five percent of government spending is non-discretionary. Therefore, by law, Congress makes budget allocations to government agencies such as education, homeland security, and department of commerce. Subsequently, failure by the Congress to pass appropriations has the effect of shutting down the operations of such agencies until appropriations are made.
References
Carter, J. (2018, December 26). Explainer: What you should know about the 2018 partial government shutdown. Retrieved from https://blog.acton.org/archives/105503-explainer-what-you-should-know-about-the-2018-partial-government-shutdown.html
Warner, E. (2018, December 6). Congress sends Trump bill to postpone shutdown deadline, sets up fight over border wall. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/house-passes-short-term-spending-bill-setting-up-pre-christmas-shutdown-fight/2018/12/06/208144ce-f4c6-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html?utm_term=.f29f4732824b
