The phrase “government shutdown” is younger than most members of Congress.

Fifty years ago, government shutdowns didn’t exist. But now, each fall, the nation groans as Congress turns one of its most fundamental duties — passing a budget — into a manufactured crisis. As the deadline approaches, Congress stalls, and shutdown threats dominate the headlines until a stopgap measure is slapped together at the eleventh hour

The calendar is no secret, yet Washington repeats the same frustrating cycle as though the budget deadline appeared out of nowhere. It appears to be high drama, but it’s a failure of legislative responsibility and an executive misstep that traces back to the Carter administration.

Shutdowns were never meant to be part of our constitutional system. They emerged in 1980, when

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