On Oct. 1, the federal government shut down for the first time in seventeen years. As a result, nearly a million government employees are being furloughed, all of America’s national parks are closed and many government services are either slowed or not available to the public. This avoidable debacle is the result of a rift in the Republican party between traditional conservatives and the new class of ideological conservatives in Congress.

Why is there a shutdown in the first place? Congress did not agree on a budget to fund the government for the 2014 fiscal year, which started on the first of this month. As a result of no funding for the year, non-essential government services are suspended and federal employees are being furloughed.
The reason why Congress has not agreed on a budget has to do with the fact that hardcore conservatives are using the budget as a last-ditch attempt to prevent the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare) by refusing to fund it in the budget. Even though Obamacare became law in 2010, it will not be fully implemented until 2014, meaning this is the absolute last chance to prevent it from taking effect.

This charge has been led by ideologically conservative Republicans who have safe House seats, many of whom were elected in the Tea Party sweep of 2010. They are fully committed to preventing a budget from being passed if it funds Obamacare. There are two dozen or so of these hardcore conservatives who are opposed to Republican House Speaker John Boehner’s plan to keep the party unified.
One of these conservatives quoted in the New York Times on October 1, “We’ve passed the witching hour of midnight, and the sky didn’t fall, nothing caved in,” said Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa, who still believes Republicans can achieve “the end of Obamacare.” “Now the pressure will build on both sides, and the American people will weigh in.”

The influence this small group has over the broader and more mainstream Republican Party has sparked an internal backlash from more traditional and moderate Republicans who are demanding that Boehner stand up to them. But they plan to give no ground and refuse to pass any budget that funds Obamacare.
The true reason for this shutdown lies with the inability of the Republicans to negotiate amongst themselves, not with the inability of the two parties to negotiate with each other.  There needs to be a reconciliation between the traditional, establishment Republican leaders and the Tea Party group that has come to power in recent years, because as it now stands, we have three parties competing for power in Washington, not two.

Until the Republican Party can reach an agreement amongst themselves, no agreement can be reached with Democrats across the aisle.  Moderates and Tea Party Republicans alike will each have to make concessions and find a middle ground before a bargain can be reached to end this shutdown.  The rift is unlikely to end until some ground is given by both groups.

Over on the Democratic side, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama see no reason to negotiate since they consider Obamacare a done deal, and polls show that Americans blame Republicans for the shutdown more than they blame Democrats.

In the meantime, federal workers and the American public pay the price for this shutdown. It is easy to see why the congressional approval rating is so low: our Congress seems more committed to shutting down the government than keeping it open.