Latest government shutdown didn't last long

The federal government shutdown at midnight on Friday, but was back in business by late Monday after the Senate reached a compromise bill that funds the government until Feb. 8. The bill also includes a six-year reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, of which 24,000 Montana children are enrolled in.

The shutdown didn’t have as much impact as previous shutdowns have. Glacier National Park remained open, though the Park didn’t plow the roads, keep the visitor center open, or offer its free weekend snowshoe tours.

Still, that didn’t stop visitors. There were plenty of people recreating in Glacier over the weekend, flush toilets and running water or not.

The last government shutdown was in October of 2013. At that time, Glacier put up temporary barriers on the road and posted trails entering the Park as closed.

This time around, the Department of Interior kept many Parks open, albeit with limited services.

Most roads in Glacier are gated and snow-filled for winter anyway. The only open road is the Going-to-the-Sun Road from Apgar to Lake McDonald Lodge.

The House passed a spending bill late last week, but it was held up in the Senate after some Democrats wanted Congress to address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. If they don’t get a path to citizenship, it’s estimated that about 700,000 of them could be deported.

But by Monday, most Democrats agreed to a deal to fund the government, with an 81-18 Senate vote.

Montana Sen, Jon Tester was one of the 18 who voted against the bill.

“Montanans deserve better. A short-term, 17-day budget is no way to run a household or business, and it certainly isn’t an acceptable way to run a government,” Tester, a Democrat, said in a statement. “We are once again seeing a failure of leadership in Washington and I will keep fighting tooth and nail for a long-term budget that funds Montana’s rural health clinics, strengthens border security, and provides our military with the certainty they need to keep our nation safe. While many people wanted to make this about immigration, this was always about Montana for me and I just won’t allow Washington to keep failing our state.”

Tester noted that increased border security and funding for community health clinics wasn’t included in the bill.

But Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines voted for the measure.

“This afternoon most Senate Democrats joined Republicans to end the government shutdown while also providing access to health care for 24,000 Montana kids,” said Daines on Monday. “It was pointless to shut the government down.”

Congressman Greg Gianforte also voted for the stop-gap bill.

“I am thankful the government will reopen soon so our troops will get paid and 24,000 Montana children will have health insurance soon,” Gianforte said. “This all could have been avoided. I voted last week to prevent a shutdown. I’m disappointed that Senate Democrats cut off government funding, troop pay, and kids’ insurance for political games.”