Grassley Backs Lankford-Hassan Bill to End Government Shutdowns with Automatic CR
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Why this grade: Graded B+: core description of the bill, shutdown mechanics, and costs were accurate and matched the legislation and recent events; the 'five in past 10 years' and recent frequency claims were roughly consistent with the 2025-2026 record of multiple prolonged shutdowns, though exact counts vary by definition of 'full' vs 'partial'; minor overstatement on bargaining ineffectiveness given some policy wins in past deals.
Why this lean: Slight right-leaning tilt from Grassley's emphasis on minority party (often Democrats) using shutdown threats for 'partisan priorities,' call for regular order and 12 appropriations bills, and framing of congressional dysfunction without highlighting specific Republican demands in recent 2025-2026 shutdowns over immigration and spending.
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Summary
Senator Chuck Grassley spoke on the Senate floor in support of a proposed continuing resolution to avert an immediate shutdown and urged passage of the bipartisan Prevent Government Shutdowns Act, introduced by Senators James Lankford and Maggie Hassan. He reviewed the standard appropriations process, explained that failure to pass 12 bills or a CR by Sept. 30 leads to shutdowns, and criticized the increasing use of shutdown threats for partisan leverage. Grassley noted the costs, service disruptions, and erosion of trust from shutdowns, arguing they are ineffective bargaining tools. The bill would provide automatic continuing resolutions on short-term rolling bases at prior-year funding levels and impose restrictions on congressional travel, recesses, and non-appropriations legislation to force completion of work. He called for ending 'Groundhog Day' crisis governance.
Editorial Assessment
The segment accurately conveyed the bill's core mechanism—an automatic CR to prevent lapses—and its additional incentives to keep Congress in session, matching the text of S.2721 and its 2026 reintroduction. Claims about shutdown frequency aligned reasonably with the major 43-day FY2026 shutdown starting Oct. 1, 2025, and subsequent 2026 shutdowns over immigration policy. Viewers miss that automatic CRs at frozen prior-year levels are criticized by budget experts for failing to account for inflation, population growth, or new priorities, potentially locking in underfunding. The speech frames shutdowns primarily as a minority-party tactic, omitting that both parties have leveraged them historically. Overall, the presentation was straightforward and fact-based but partisan in emphasis, with no counterarguments from opponents of automatic CRs who prefer forcing negotiations.
Key Moments
Over the past 10 years, we've seen five government shutdowns. Three of them—one full and two partial—have occurred in just the past nine months.
Consistent with the major Oct-Nov 2025 43-day shutdown plus multiple 2026 shutdowns (including a 76-day partial over immigration), per CRS and contemporary reports.
The Prevent Government Shutdown Act introduced by Senator Lankford and Senator Hassan would make government shutdowns a thing of the past by providing an automatic continuing resolution.
Bill text (S.2721 and 2026 version) explicitly provides automatic CRs at prior-year rates on rolling short-term bases if appropriations are not completed.
Shutting down the government costs taxpayers money to shut down and even more to reopen it, reduces essential services, erodes trust, and limits oversight.
Documented in multiple CBO, GAO, and CRS analyses of past shutdowns, including the 2025 event.
History has shown that shutting down the government is not only bad policy, it's bad politics and not a great bargaining tool.
While often politically damaging, some past shutdowns yielded policy concessions for the party initiating the standoff; effectiveness is debated.
Congress needs to stop governing from crisis to crisis, respect the appropriations process, and fulfill its constitutional responsibilities.
Directly reflects Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution requiring appropriations for spending; regular order has been bypassed frequently in recent decades.
Notable Concerns
- Partisan framing attributes shutdown threats mainly to the minority party without equal scrutiny of majority demands in recent 2025-2026 disputes
- Lacks discussion of critiques that automatic CRs reduce incentive for timely appropriations and freeze spending without inflation adjustments
Sources Consulted
- S.2721 - Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2025
- Lankford, Hassan Team Up to End Government Shutdowns and Hold Congress Accountable
- The 2025 (FY2026) Government Shutdown: Economic Effects
- Government Shutdowns Q&A: Everything You Should Know
- An Automatic Continuing Resolution Is Not a Good Solution for Government Shutdowns
- Congress Could End Government Shutdown Drama Once and For All