Essay on US Constitution's Appropriation Bill: Effective Control of Government Funds

Introduction

The appropriation bill is very significant as it controls the usage of funds by the governments by authorizing the expenditure of funds by the government. It helps in putting money aside for given spending hence ensuring that the government's funds are used in an effective manner that may be accountable (Clerk, 2020). Under power separations that were developed by the United States Constitution, the control and appropriation of the United States government funds are the main duty of the United States Congress. The process was begun by Congress via the proposal of an appropriation bill that was geared towards determining the spending levels for every government program and federal department (Lacy, Fowles, Tandberg, & Hu, 2017). The Senate and house of a representative then vote for the finalized version of the bill. Once the bill has passed through both chambers, it is then presented for signing into law by the president of the United States. The government shutdowns may happen where there exists a misunderstanding over the allocation of budgets before the end of the existing cycle (Lee, 2020). Such disagreement may emanate from the president by rejecting any appropriation bill presented before. Moreover, appropriation bills may lead to shutdowns in a scenario where Congress refuses to pass the appropriation bill consisting of the yearly federal budget or "continuing resolution" that aims at prolonging spending going beyond the fiscal year's end (Matthews, 2020). Furthermore, the government shutdowns may come from a rejection of the bill by one or both chambers of the Congress, mostly from a more influential political party in the chamber.

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Nevertheless, a shutdown may be temporarily avoided via the enactment of a continuing resolution, which may have an effect of prolonging government funding for a specific period of time, within which negotiations on time may be undertaken by parties involved to supply an appropriation bill (Wlezien, 2015). However, the control resolution may be obstructed by the same political parties, especially when there a raises issue with the contents of the resolution bill that either of the parties disagrees upon. In such a scenario, the shutdown has to occur inevitably when the President, Senate, or the House fails to pass the control resolution (Matthews, 2020). In rare cases, Congress may try to override the Presidential veto of an appropriation bill, but such may need the support of the majority of two-thirds of both chambers.

Recent Government Shutdowns

One of the recent government shutdowns occurred 22, Dec 2018 when the Whitehouse and the Congress failed to have a common understanding on the inclusion of the yearly spending bill of $5.7 billion that was requested by President Trump for additional contraction of 234 miles of fencing to be reinforced between Mexico and the U.S. border (Matthews, 2020). On 8 January 2019, the president threatened declaration of the national emergency, giving powers to bypass to continue funding the border fencing (Matthews, 2020). The threats led to the U.S. experiencing a shutdown on 12 January, making it the most extended government shutdown in the history of the U.S.

Policy Proposals against Shutdowns

The end Government Shutdowns Act

The end of the government shutdown act was legislation for Rob Portman. It has supported by a good portion of the Republicans and may elicit an automatic continuing resolution for sections of the government that are not funded by the start of the fiscal year (Lee, 2020). To keep the policymakers motivated and to continue with negotiations, the bill is designed to cut one percent if a deal may not be met after twenty days. Furthermore, the bill would continue truncating spending by one percent every ninety days that the deal is not met (Lee, 2020). I don't concur with the bill since truncating the money by percentages would mean an adverse economic impact of a nation.

The Stop STUPIDITY Act

The stop STUPIDITY Act was a policy that was formulated by Sen. Mark. The bill would ensure automatic continuing resolutions to help in avoiding shutdowns in the future. Mark's bill does not take considerations of cutting the spending (Clerk, 2020). Furthermore, the bill does not take off the spending for the legislative branch as well as Congress and the president's executive office (Clerk, 2020). The main aim of this is to put more pressure on Congress and the president to come to a common understanding by denying both of them funding that they intensively in need of. I concur with this policy as it provides support for continuing resolutions hence ensuring that some sensitive government operations may continue functioning without being subjected to immediate shutdowns.

Ethical Consequences of Both Government Shutdowns and Appropriations Bills

In as much as appropriations come with its advantages like ensuring that government spending is a channel to only to authorized sectors, it also has its ethical consequences (Wlezien, 2015). One of the ethical consequences of the appropriation bill is that it may lead to adverse effects of the lives of individuals, especially the patients (Wlezien, 2015). In a scenario where funds may not be approved, via appropriation bills, for use in a given health facility, patients may end up dying lives due to the consequences associated with shutdowns, which is a result of the failure of passing appropriation bills. The consequence that the resulting shutdowns have on the health of the patients may violate the right to life and receiving medical care.

Conclusion

Appropriation bills play a vital role in ensuring that government expenditure is regulated and filtered in such a way that fund is used on for useful projects that impact positively to the economy. However, the rejection of the appropriation bills by either the president of or the houses may lead to government shutdowns, which may translate into an adverse effect on the country's economy as well as the health and living standards of the people.

References

Clerk, J. (2020). What really happens during a government shutdown. Retrieved 16 February 2020, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/government-shutdown.asp

Lacy, T., Fowles, J., Tandberg, D., & Hu, S. (2017). U.S. state higher education appropriations: assessing the relationships between agency politicization, centralization, and volatility. Policy And Society, 36(1), 16-33. doi: 10.1080/14494035.2017.1290201

Lee, V. (2020). Retrieved 16 February 2020, from https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2019-09-17%20PSI%20Staff%20Report%20-%20Government%20Shutdowns.pdf

Matthews, D. (2020). Here is every previous government shutdown, why they happened, and how they ended. Retrieved 16 February 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/25/here-is-every-previous-government-shutdown-why-they-happened-and-how-they-ended/

Wlezien, C. (2015). The president, congress, and appropriations, 1951-1985. American Politics Quarterly, 24(1), 43-67. doi: 10.1177/1532673x9602400103