A federal government shutdown appears imminent, with Republicans and Democrats still far from a deal and the last continuing resolution on fiscal year 2011 spending set to expire at the end of April 8. Trying to buy more negotiating time, House Republicans approved a new continuing resolution today that funds most of the federal government for just one week but the Department of Defense through the end of September (the remainder of the fiscal year). The bill passed on a 247 to 181 vote, mostly along party lines, despite a rare veto threat from President Barack Obama earlier today. The roll call shows that Steve King (IA-05) was one of only six Republicans to vote no on this bill, and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) was among only 15 Democrats to vote yes. Tom Latham (IA-04) voted yes, along with most of the GOP caucus. Democrats Bruce Braley (IA-01) and Dave Loebsack (IA-02) voted no, like most of the Democrats.

House and Senate leaders have been negotiating at the White House today and are scheduled to continue this evening, but prospects for a budget deal don’t look good. Both sides are “already spinning a shutdown.” The main sticking point seems to be not the dollar figure for cuts to the current-year budget, but a number of “riders” demanded by House Republicans, which are unacceptable to Democrats. Some of the most contentious ones would defund health care reform, Planned Parenthood and forbid the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases.

After the jump I’ve posted recent statements from Braley, Loebsack, and Latham regarding the federal budget negotiations and the continuing resolution passed today. Braley and Loebsack both denounced Washington political “games” and pointed out how thousands of Iowans would be affected by a shutdown. Latham said, “No one wants a government shutdown, and I’m doing everything I can to keep that from happening while protecting our troops […] However, we can’t continue to spend money we don’t have, and any budget approved by Congress must contain serious spending cuts.” Earlier today on the House floor, Latham stuck to the GOP script on the “troop funding bill”. I’ll update the post as more reaction becomes available.

Senator Tom Harkin has blamed Republican intransigence for the potential shutdown in many media interviews this week. Speaking on MSNBC today, he said that even in 1995 and 1996 he’d never seen anything like the current attitude among some Republicans who won’t compromise. Radio Iowa quoted Harkin as saying, “It is flabbergasting, that actually people are walking around here saying ‘shut the government down.’ I gotta ask sometimes, where’s their patriotism, where is their patriotism?” Speaking to reporters yesterday, Senator Chuck Grassley expressed frustration about Senate Republicans being excluded from the direct negotiations at the White House. He still sounds optimistic a shutdown can be avoided, though.

If Friday night’s deadline passes with no agreement, some government services would continue, including various law enforcement activities, air traffic control, the U.S. Postal Service, National Weather Service monitoring, and payment of food stamps and Social Security checks. However, approximately 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed, and many other Americans would be affected by cutbacks in government services. For instance, tax refunds would be delayed, national parks and forests would be closed, and neither the Federal Housing Administration nor the Small Business Administration would be able to process or approve new loans. Federal courts can continue to operate for two weeks, but if a shutdown lasts longer than that, “the federal court system faces serious disruption.” Over at Iowa Independent, Tyler Kingkade looked at how a federal government shutdown would affect Pell grants and the Head Start program in Iowa.

Share any thoughts about the federal budget impasse in this thread. I’m worried that the final deal will include too many spending cuts aimed at vulnerable people, and will be a drag on the economy as a whole. Tens of billions of dollars in cuts would not be on the table now if the Democratic-controlled Congress had completed work on the 2011 budget on time last year.

UPDATE: King explained his vote to IowaPolitics.com:

“I am on a singular mission to undo Obamacare,” King said. “I took the position that I’m going to hold my ground and I’m going to vote ‘no’ to any bill that does not cut off funding to Obamacare. When I give my word, I keep it. I see leadership moving away from using it as a lever. That’s a point of greater frustration.”

King also said, “I think the shutdown at this point is inevitable […] Then it becomes a stare down: who will blink.” Unfortunately, I think we can guess that President Obama will blink.

SECOND UPDATE: Jamie Dupree on the broken federal budget process: both parties have failed to approve budget bills on time during the last five election years.

Eli Lehrer has a post up on lobbyist influence over the “riders”: “the much longer list of environment-related riders looks like it was written almost entirely by specific industry lobbyists who have good relationships with certain members of Congress. Although there are some very broad efforts that would end virtually every climate-change or carbon-regulation program in the government, most of the environmental efforts are very narrow and, one assumes, serve a very few interests.”

THIRD UPDATE: Click here to listen to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack discuss the impact a shutdown would have on USDA operations.

On April 8 Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen and Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal vowed that legislators will settle their parties’ differences over the state budget in the coming weeks through “healthy dialogue,” with no chance of an impasse like what’s occurring in Washington.

Also on April 8, Bruce Braley’s office sent reporters a memo prepared by chief of staff John Davis about the impact a government shutdown would have on Iowa families and the Iowa economy. Among other things, the memo asserts that nearly 60 Iowa small businesses would not have SBA loans approved, about half of Iowa Guard personnel would not be paid, veterans would see delays in various benefits and support services, Farm Service Agency loans would be delayed, as would export licenses and applications for Social Security cards. Also, the memo warns, “Over 3000 employees of Rock Island Arsenal could be out of work,” based on what happened during the 1995 government shutdown.  

Statement from Bruce Braley, April 7:

Braley Calls on Politicians to Stop Playing Games with Government Shutdown

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Bruce Braley (IA-01) released the following statement after voting against a political House Republican funding measure that would only fund the government for one week and includes irresponsible cuts that hurt Iowans and destroy jobs:

“A government shutdown is not a game – it has very real implications for Iowans and all Americans. It’s completely irresponsible for politicians in Washington to play games and offer up one-week bills that simply kick the can down the road when we should be having a responsible conversation about how to keep the government open and funded for the long term. My sleeves are rolled up and I’ll work as long as it takes – but we must stop treating a shutdown as some symbol or political game.

For Iowa, a shutdown is very real. National Guard troops and their families wouldn’t receive paychecks. Thousands of Iowans won’t get their tax refunds. Plants that process Iowa pork will be forced to stop or delay operations. Small businesses won’t get loans, and farmers who are getting ready to plant will miss crucial information and assistance from USDA. This is very serious for my constituents.”

Statement from Dave Loebsack, April 7:

Congressman Dave Loebsack Calls on Congress to Stop Playing Politics, Avert a Shutdown

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dave Loebsack issued the following statement calling for budget negotiations to move forward.

“A government shutdown can be avoided, but it will require politicians in Washington to put our constituents’ priorities ahead of political games.  Instead of voting on legislation that is meant to stir controversy over issues like abortion that have nothing to do with our economic recovery or the basic functions of government that our constituents rely on,  House Leadership should move forward with time-sensitive negotiations to avert a shutdown that will set-back our economic recovery and waste taxpayer money.

“While good faith negotiations continue, the House should vote on two common-sense bills of which I’m a cosponsor – one to make sure Members of Congress and the President don’t get their taxpayer-funded paychecks if Washington fails to do its most basic job, and one to make sure that our troops and military families receive their paychecks and don’t get stuck in the middle of Washington grandstanding at its worst.”

Statement from Tom Latham, April 7:

U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICANS APPROVE MEASURE TO PREVENT SHUTDOWN WHILE PROTECTING AMERICA’S TROOPS

LATHAM VOTES TO PROTECT TROOPS FROM SHUTDOWN UNCERTAINTY WHILE ALSO CUTTING OTHER GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Washington, Apr 7 – Republican Appropriators in the U.S. House of Representatives pushed legislation Thursday to avert a federal government shutdown, cut spending by an additional $12 billion and, most importantly, remove the men and women of America’s armed forces from ongoing budget negotiations by funding the Department of Defense – including pay for troops and their families – for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Iowa Congressman Tom Latham reaffirmed his commitment to U.S. troops and to averting a government shutdown by voting in favor of the legislation, HR 1363, which provides U.S. troops and the DOD with certainty regarding funding levels for the remaining months of Fiscal Year 2011.  The Pentagon has asked Congress to pass a long-term funding measure rather than the series of temporary continuing resolutions approved for the current fiscal year.

HR 1363 was approved the House of Representatives by a vote of 247-181.

“Funding our troops with short-term stopgap bills is irresponsible, especially at a time when U.S. forces have been entered into yet another conflict in Libya,” Congressman Latham said after the vote. “It’s imperative that we give our men and women in uniform the certainty that their government will provide them the resources they need to carry out their missions.  This legislation takes on even greater significance for my home state after 2,800 members of the Iowa National Guard were deployed to Afghanistan last year. Many in the Senate would like to see the Department of Defense budget used as an offset to continue the spending binge here in Washington.  We cannot allow our troops to continue to be used as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. We simply have to take care of the men and women who are risking their lives for our country across the globe.”    

Without an agreement on a government funding measure, the government’s authority to spend money will expire Friday night, leading to a shutdown of government functions deemed nonessential.

“Anyone voting or standing against today’s common-sense funding measure is showing a willingness to shut down the government and block the pay and resources for American troops over less than 0.5% of overall federal spending,” Congressman Latham said. “That is absolutely unconscionable to me.”

Congressman Latham has voted repeatedly for legislation to avert a government shutdown over the course of the last few months, including a bill to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year and three short-term stopgap measures to give negotiators more time to reach a permanent agreement.  HR 1, legislation that would continue government operations for the rest of the fiscal year while cutting $61 billion from current spending levels, received the approval of the House on February 19.  Congressman Latham noted that in the 47 days since then, the Senate has failed to approve any legislation that would keep the government running for the rest of Fiscal Year 2011.

“No one wants a government shutdown, and I’m doing everything I can to keep that from happening while protecting our troops,” Congressman Latham said.  “However, we can’t continue to spend money we don’t have, and any budget approved by Congress must contain serious spending cuts.  If we don’t end Washington’s spending addiction, we’ll prolong the economic uncertainty standing in the way of real job creation.”