Rosendale disagrees with the ongoing resolution as government organizations prepare for a possible shutdown

Billings, Montana – Though no budgets have been passed, tensions on Capitol Hill are running high as a potential government shutdown looms; federal agencies and services might come to a grinding halt on October 1, 2023, if the government is unable to pay its bills.

“The chances of this happening are decent,” said Dr. Paul Pope, an associate professor of political science at MSU-Billings. “We’re less than two weeks out, and Republicans have already failed two bills and they can’t even agree within their own party.”

As the U.S. House of Representatives struggles to reach a consensus on a dozen financing bills necessary to keep the government running, anxiety over the shutdown is intensifying.

“We certainly don’t know what to expect, hoping for the best, of course, and yet preparing for the worst,” said Jesse Laslovich, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana.

One federal agency in Montana that has already begun preparations for a government shutdown is the Department of Justice.

“If it’s really bad, if there are significant cuts, it will affect our operations, which affects what we’re able to do from a public safety standpoint throughout the state,” Laslovich said. “So I’m really hopeful that both sides can work together as quickly as possible to come to an agreement on a new budget.”

The previous shutdown, which lasted 35 days in 2018–2019 and was caused by a disagreement over financing for a wall on the southern border, occurred during the Trump administration.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republicans seeking for significant budget cuts, are at odds, which is why the battle to pass funding is occurring at this time.

Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana wants to see those savings made.

“We need to focus our attention on passing the appropriation bills, which provides transparency on what is being spent on government,” Rosendale, a Republican representing eastern Montana, said that on Aug. 28, 2023, before he returned to Congress following the August recess.

“It gives us the ability to remove funding for some of the policies and, quite frankly, remove funding from part of the agencies that had been weaponized against American people.”

When asked about specific agencies, Rosendale listed the FBI and the Department of Justice among others.

“When we see the IRS show up at a gun store in Great Falls with AR-15s, that’s a weaponization of our government. So we need to make sure that that type of conduct isn’t going to continue. And the only way that we can make sure that that type of conduct doesn’t continue is to do it through the purse strings,” Rosendale said.

Rosendale said that, should McCarthy fail to set a firm budgetary line, he would vote against a continuing resolution, which may temporarily fund the government, before to his return to Congress in September.

“My question is, if we were going to use a continuing resolution and an omnibus bill to fund government instead of the appropriations bills, that is exactly the way that Nancy Pelosi funded government. And so if I don’t see any difference in those different speakers, then that’s a problem,” Rosendale said.