Looming Deadline

Plus: Nuclear reactors, space firsts, Fani Willis’ love life, Trump sneakers, and more…

LIZ WOLFE

Today, the federal government will start preparing for a partial shutdown, as two government funding deadlines loom—March 1 for one set of agencies, and March 8 for the rest—that will possibly not be met.

It’s possible that yet another stopgap bill will be agreed to, in much the same way Congress got itself out of this pickle back in September. Oh, and also November. Oh, and also January. In short: Congress is hobbled by dysfunction right now and keeps struggling to proactively put together spending bills in advance of deadlines.

“I think the odds [of a shutdown] are 50-50 at this point,” Rep. Patrick McHenry (R–N.C.) told CBS News. The thing is, government shutdowns are little more than an act: Though they pack a dramatic punch, and are disruptive to many, plenty of agencies continue to provide services and they don’t end up saving the federal government very much money at all.

A shutdown would, for example, pause trainings for new air traffic controllers, but keep existing ones at work. It would not halt administration of benefits for veterans, but it would temporarily pause the maintenance at Veterans Affairs cemeteries. Food stamps would continue to be sent out and food safety inspection workers would stay on the job, but most National Park Service sites would close down. Loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration would probably be delayed.

But, by and large, shutdowns are not invitations to truly reconsider the role the federal government plays in our lives. They’re not opportunities to reflect on which agencies and programs we actually need—to the extent that we need any of them. They’re perceived as painful and semi-embarrassing for legislators, even if they don’t affect very much. They generate headlines (like this one, whoops). Eventually, Congress comes together and somebody concedes something and yet another supersized ream of taxpayer dollars gets blown right through. Rinse and repeat.

This time is a little different, though, because Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) is currently traveling through Ukraine—funding for which has been a source of major disagreement, particularly in the House—and has “said he hopes to show how congressional foot-dragging on more aid has hurt Ukraine’s efforts on the battlefield and to appeal to House Republicans to take action before it’s too late,” per The New York Times. Sooner or later, Congress will need to figure out where it stands on Ukraine funding.

Scenes from New York:

But the NYC ferry system, wonderful as it may be, is pretty unsustainable: Each rider pays $4 per trip but is subsidized by the city to the tune of about $10 per trip. If riders were forced to bear the true costs, maybe the ferry service would be less of a money pit, and we could remain assured that it will continue to operate.

QUICK HITS

• All three of the Democrats hoping to be elected to the U.S. Senate by Californians hope to shut down the state’s last nuclear power plant—proof that, even though Diablo Canyon power plant was recently saved, with regulators allowing it to continue operating until 2030 instead of shuttering next year, there’s still a strong anti-nuclear contingent in the state. More from pro-nuclear activist/model Isabelle Boemeke:

• Federal Reserve officials are saying they’re going to be cutting rates this year, just…not this part of this year. And maybe not anytime soon. OK.
• Vice will no longer publish on Vice.com and will lay off hundreds of employees:

• Relatedly, meditations on link rot and how maybe the internet isn’t forever:

• “Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old Oklahoma student who identified as nonbinary and preferred they/them pronouns, died on February 8, a day after a fight at Owasso High School. It is unclear whether the injuries that Nex suffered in the fight contributed to their death,” writes Reason‘s Jacob Sullum. “But in a story published on Wednesday, The New York Times implicitly blames the altercation on an Oklahoma law that requires students to use restrooms that correspond with the sex ‘identified on the individual’s original birth certificate.’ Details that the Times omitted cast doubt on that framing.”
• “A private lander on Thursday made the first U.S. touchdown on the moon in more than 50 years,” reported the Associated Press, “but managed just a weak signal back until flight controllers scrambled to gain better contact.” Pretty awesome to see this done by a private company vs. NASA. (Other space-tech advancements made news this week, too, courtesy of Varda.)
• Check out the latest episode of Just Asking Questions which features none other than the lovely Michael Moynihan, one-third of The Fifth Column and formerly of Vice.
• This past weekend, former President Donald Trump unveiled new merch: $399 high-top “Never Surrender” sneakers. Joe Biden’s campaign team responded with arguably the most cringe clapback of all time: “Donald Trump showing up to hawk bootleg Off-Whites is the closest he’ll get to any Air Force Ones ever again for the rest of his life.”
• The Cut has a theory about Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who brought Trump and associates up on racketeering charges for election interference and who had apparently slept with one of the prosecutors she had hired to be on the case: Really, black women just can’t win in America, and her competence is being questioned because of her skin color.

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