Ron DeSantis Pushes for Government Shutdown Amid Campaign Struggles – Rolling Stone

Presidential candidates like to distinguish themselves from their rivals, and while it’s common for prospective nominees to highlight their stance on issues like the economy and national defense, it’s rare that a candidate comes out in support of shutting down the government. 

On Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did just that. During an interview with Newsmax, DeSantis said he would support a federal government shutdown — an event that would cripple government services from Medicare to national parks to air traffic control — in order to curb spending. 

“Spending is out of control,” DeSantis said in response to a question about whether he supports a government shutdown. “I think the reason why it has gotten to this point is because Republicans are so worried of ‘a government shutdown.’ First of all, the government doesn’t actually shut down. They take non-essential workers and then they dont work. But why do we have non-essential workers to begin with?” 

DeSantis is wrong. A shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass a funding package for the government. In 2019, a 35-day shutdown under the Trump administration had widespread effects throughout the country. As the government pared down to only “essential staff,” 800,000 federal employees went without pay, FEMA suspended contractors, the FDA stopped food safety inspections, payments for tax refunds were delayed, food assistance programs were reduced, national parks closed, and airports plunged into chaos. 

The Congressional Budget Office would estimate that the 35 days cost the United States billions in lost GDP and tax revenue. 

But no biggie, why would anyone be nervous about doing that again? 

DeSantis is floundering in the polls and donors are getting nervous that he will not be able to pull the train back onto the rails. Earlier this week, Republican strategist Ed Rollins told Rolling Stone that every time DeSantis “opens his mouth, he has a tendency to — shall we say — think out-loud, and he clearly doesn’t understand the game.”