News Summary

• In 1980, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti wrote a memo to President Jimmy Carter.
• The memo was meant to clarify what happens when Congress fails to pass a spending bill.
• Instead, it accidentally created the modern government shutdown, says Julian Zelizer.
• Zelizer: Like the filibuster, government shutdowns are an American phenomenon, and it's long past time to fix them.. A 2024 Senate report found that three of the shutdowns added a total of $338 million in new costs.
• A country whose government regularly fails to put a simple budget together doesn't inspire confidence.