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Welcome to Government Shutdown Weekend when Congress fails to do its primary job of keeping the government running. The new fiscal year begins Sunday, October 1 and no government agency will have had its budget approved by then. This actually happens almost every October 1 but Congress almost always gives itself more time by funding the agencies for a couple of months. Not this year.

The Senate passed one of these “continuing resolutions” and sent it to the House where a handful of delusional members of the majority party expect everyone else in the House, the Senate, and the White House to agree to significant policy changes in order to keep the government open. These changes include immigration reform, Ukraine policy, and breaking an agreement on spending levels for the new fiscal year that was agreed to by the House, the Senate, and the White House last spring. This situation could take a while to resolve.

You can find a summary of the shutdown’s effects here ([link removed]) . If you’re flying somewhere, the TSA agents will be working but not getting paid so allow some extra time. The air traffic controllers will still be on the job. If you’re going to a national park, better check to see what’s open first. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will be funded because they legally never run out of money, putting them in the category of (wonk alert) “entitlement programs.” (Maybe this whole post should get Wonk Alert?) Also on the plus side, rush hour will be noticeably better here in Washington next week.

Members of Congress will be paid during the shutdown. Their staff members will not. Normally you’d like to be considered “essential” in your office, but those staffers who are designated “essential” get to continue to come in to work for free while nonessential staff get an unpaid vacation. Let’s give the essential staff something to do; it’s time to send a new Action Alert on the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, or SCERT.

Majority Leader Schumer has talked about bringing the bill up for a Senate vote but so far that hasn’t happened. The bill has 34 cosponsors and was approved by the Judiciary Committee. Meanwhile we have a new report of yet another egregious failure by Justice Clarence Thomas to comply with the existing federal law for reporting travel. Thomas has at least twice secretly attended summits with hundreds of wealthy conservative political donors, funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, most recently in 2018. Nothing about the free trips was disclosed on his 2018 financial report. None of the flimsy excuses he has used about his failures to report other trips can be used for these; he just has no excuse.

Justice Thomas, left, and David Koch, right. Ken Burns was there working on his latest documentary, Why We Need The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act.

With a Supreme Court majority that consistently rules that an individual’s religious beliefs outweigh the rights of people around them, we need to apply a code of ethics and require greater transparency about whom the Justices meet with and who hands them gifts. They never have to run for reelection but they know that their decisions and the perception of how objective they are affect elections. SCERT is a small but important step towards giving voters information about how Supreme Court justices do their jobs and how accountable the elected officials who nominate them and confirm them should be. Ask your Senators to ask Senator Schumer to vote on SCERT with our Action Alert here ([link removed]) .


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Scott MacConomy, Director of Policy ad Government Affairs at the Secular Coalition for America, wears a blue suit and stands with his arms crossed over his chest in front of the United States Capitol Building.

Your advocate,

Scott MacConomy
Director of Policy and Government Affairs
Secular Coalition for America
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