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The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
\u201cThis is not about risk-seeking. It\u2019s about diversification and the reassessment of risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
\u201cThis is not about risk-seeking. It\u2019s about diversification and the reassessment of risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
Mr. McIntyre said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not about risk-seeking. It\u2019s about diversification and the reassessment of risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
\u201cThe world looks to the U.S. as a beacon of democracy and rule of law, and I think that is starting to change a little bit,\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Mr. McIntyre said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not about risk-seeking. It\u2019s about diversification and the reassessment of risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
\u201cThe world looks to the U.S. as a beacon of democracy and rule of law, and I think that is starting to change a little bit,\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Mr. McIntyre said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not about risk-seeking. It\u2019s about diversification and the reassessment of risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
For many investors, the shift reflects something <\/a>deeper than short-term market positioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe world looks to the U.S. as a beacon of democracy and rule of law, and I think that is starting to change a little bit,\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Mr. McIntyre said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not about risk-seeking. It\u2019s about diversification and the reassessment of risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
For many investors, the shift reflects something <\/a>deeper than short-term market positioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe world looks to the U.S. as a beacon of democracy and rule of law, and I think that is starting to change a little bit,\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Mr. McIntyre said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not about risk-seeking. It\u2019s about diversification and the reassessment of risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
Central bank gold purchases roughly doubled after the seizure of Russian assets and accelerated again late last year, according to the World Gold Council. Private investors have followed suit, pouring money into gold-backed exchange-traded funds as they seek havens beyond U.S. markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For many investors, the shift reflects something <\/a>deeper than short-term market positioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe world looks to the U.S. as a beacon of democracy and rule of law, and I think that is starting to change a little bit,\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Mr. McIntyre said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not about risk-seeking. It\u2019s about diversification and the reassessment of risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
Selling Treasuries reduces the need to hold dollars, weakening the currency further. Yet no single fiat currency has emerged as the clear alternative. Instead, much of the capital has flowed into gold and other precious metals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Central bank gold purchases roughly doubled after the seizure of Russian assets and accelerated again late last year, according to the World Gold Council. Private investors have followed suit, pouring money into gold-backed exchange-traded funds as they seek havens beyond U.S. markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For many investors, the shift reflects something <\/a>deeper than short-term market positioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe world looks to the U.S. as a beacon of democracy and rule of law, and I think that is starting to change a little bit,\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Mr. McIntyre said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not about risk-seeking. It\u2019s about diversification and the reassessment of risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a system <\/a>increasingly reliant on brinkmanship, short-term fixes, and political hostage-taking. While lawmakers frame the lapse as temporary, the cumulative effect of repeated shutdowns is corrosive: weakened public trust, economic inefficiency, and an erosion of the federal government\u2019s ability to function predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Congress once again scrambles to reopen the government, the larger question remains unanswered: how long can a global superpower afford to govern itself through manufactured crises rather than stable, timely decision-making?<\/p>\n","post_title":"Partial government shutdown hits as Senate funding deal falls short","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"partial-government-shutdown-hits-as-senate-funding-deal-falls-short","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:11","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10285","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};
Selling Treasuries reduces the need to hold dollars, weakening the currency further. Yet no single fiat currency has emerged as the clear alternative. Instead, much of the capital has flowed into gold and other precious metals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Central bank gold purchases roughly doubled after the seizure of Russian assets and accelerated again late last year, according to the World Gold Council. Private investors have followed suit, pouring money into gold-backed exchange-traded funds as they seek havens beyond U.S. markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For many investors, the shift reflects something <\/a>deeper than short-term market positioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe world looks to the U.S. as a beacon of democracy and rule of law, and I think that is starting to change a little bit,\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Mr. McIntyre said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not about risk-seeking. It\u2019s about diversification and the reassessment of risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In that sense, the \u201cSell America\u201d trade is less a vote against the United States than a signal that its long-assumed financial and institutional dominance is no longer taken for granted.<\/p>\n","post_title":"How \u2018Sell America\u2019 became Wall Street\u2019s latest trade","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-sell-america-became-wall-streets-latest-trade","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_modified_gmt":"2026-02-01 18:56:08","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/dctransparency.com\/?p=10292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10285,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_date_gmt":"2026-01-31 14:10:10","post_content":"\n The U.S. federal government partially shut down early Saturday, again illustrating how procedural delays and partisan politics can trump even wide bipartisan support. The shutdown came despite the Senate\u2019s passage of a spending bill just hours earlier by a lopsided 71-29 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation combined five spending bills with a two-week continuing resolution to provide more time for an agreement on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security <\/a>(DHS). However, since the House of Representatives is not scheduled to meet until Monday, the bill could not be completed on time, resulting in a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is yet another example of a problem in Washington: Congress\u2019s failure to coordinate its activities even when there is bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, lawmakers and administration officials have tried to play down the shutdown as likely being of a short duration, especially in comparison to last year\u2019s record-breaking 43-day shutdown. But history shows that even a short shutdown can have real-world costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Congressional Budget Office analysis <\/a>found that the 2018-2019 shutdown cost the U.S. GDP an estimated $11 billion, with $3 billion of that amount lost forever. Government workers missed paychecks, contractors were not paid, and critical services came to a halt or slowed. Even a short shutdown can cause problems with airport security, federal grants, housing assistance programs, and regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time around, appropriations lapsed for agencies responsible for national security, healthcare, transportation, education, housing, labor standards, and foreign diplomacy\u2014essentially the core of the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be in favor of the Senate-approved deal, thanks to the support of President Donald Trump for the package. This move by Johnson, as reported during a House GOP conference call, shows how the legislative leadership is still dependent on the approval of the president rather than the need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnson hopes that the House will pass the bill on Monday, and then it will go to Trump for signing. Until then, the agencies are in a shutdown situation, even though the lawmakers have already reached an agreement on the funding in principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most disputed part of the funding package is related to the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate deal removed DHS from the broader appropriations bill and instead put it in a temporary stopgap spending bill, effectively kicking funding decisions down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DHS has been a source of tension for Democrats, particularly with regards to aggressive immigration enforcement actions, including recent raids in Minnesota that have sparked criticism from civil liberties organizations and local leaders. Meanwhile, Republicans have used DHS spending as a bargaining chip to push through hard-line immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This dual-track approach to funding one of the government\u2019s largest and most complex agencies is a symptom of Congress\u2019s inability to square immigration enforcement with other governance priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shutdown was further complicated by holds in the Senate, particularly from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham insisted that his hold on the package could not be lifted unless there was a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize so-called \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His bill would make it a crime to prosecute state and local officials accused of undermining federal immigration enforcement efforts\u2014a move widely panned by legal analysts as unconstitutional and likely to spark years of litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham also insisted that his hold be lifted in connection with the \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith, in which he sought new notification procedures if members of Congress are notified that their phone records have been seized in a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a memo sent Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought instructed federal agencies to begin \u201corderly shutdown activities,\u201d telling employees to report <\/a>to work only to prepare for closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the administration expressed hope the lapse would be brief, such instructions carry immediate effects: furlough notices, suspended services, and uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or worked without pay during the last prolonged shutdown\u2014a precedent that continues to loom over each funding lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal, backing funding for most of the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Yet his intervention did little to prevent another shutdown, reinforcing the reality that presidential support alone cannot overcome congressional dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shutdown is not an anomaly but part of a broader pattern. Since 1980, the U.S. government has shut down more than 20 times, with the frequency increasing sharply over the past decade as budget negotiations have become vehicles for ideological battles rather than routine governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest shutdown exposes a
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Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Reassessment of Risk, Not a Panic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Reassessment of Risk, Not a Panic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Reassessment of Risk, Not a Panic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Gold, Not Another Currency, Takes the Lead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Reassessment of Risk, Not a Panic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A \u201cShort\u201d Shutdown \u2014 With Real Consequences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
House Delay and Presidential Deference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Homeland Security at the Center of the Standoff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Individual Holds, National Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Agencies Ordered to Wind Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Structural Problem, Not an Isolated Incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governance by Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n