Economist rips House Republicans’ 'Seinfeld shutdown' for being 'about nothing'

29 September 2023

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) has been making a last-minute effort to work out some type of funding agreement and avoid a federal government shutdown, but far-right members of his caucus have been unyielding. And a shutdown appears likely.

The American Enterprise Institute's Michael Strain has described this likely event as the "Seinfeld shutdown" — a reference to the popular 1990s sitcom "Seinfeld."

"Seinfeld" was said to be "a show about nothing," and Strain believes that the likely 2023 shutdown is also about nothing — unlike previous shutdowns.

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The Washington Post's Jeff Stein explains, "In 1995 and 1996, the federal government shut down as House Republicans and the Clinton Administration clashed over spending cuts. In 2013, the government shut down because of a partisan disagreement over President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act."

Stein adds, "In 2018, Democrats bucked President Donald Trump's demands to fund a U.S.-Mexico border wall, leading to the longest shutdown in U.S. history."

Strain, describing McCarthy's struggle with far-right members of his caucus, said, "The weirdest thing about it is that the Republicans don't have any demands. What do they want? What is it that they're going to shut the government down for? We simply don't know."

Democrats have been vehemently critical of the far-right House Freedom Caucus members who appear determined to bring about a shutdown. Those MAGA Republicans, Democrats argue, are failing to honor the bipartisan debt ceiling bill that McCarthy and President Joe Biden agreed to earlier this year.

Even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) is frustrated, telling the Washington Post, "I frankly don't understand it. I think it's sort of nuts. There are times people vote yes one day, and then, they come back and vote no the next day — and can't explain why they switched…. I find it hard to understand what they want, too, because they change constantly — that's a big part of the problem.”

Read the Washington Post's full column at this link (subscription required).

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