The Washington Monument syndrome, [1] also known as the Mount Rushmore syndrome [2] or the firemen first principle, [3] [4] is a term used to describe the phenomenon of government agencies in the United States cutting the most visible or appreciated service provided by the government when faced with budget cuts. It has been used in reference to cuts in popular services such as national parks and libraries [2] or to valued public employees such as teachers and firefighters, [3] with the Washington Monument and Mount Rushmore being two of the most visible landmarks maintained by the National Park Service. [1] This is done to put pressure on the public and lawmakers to rescind budget cuts. The term can also refer to claims by lawmakers that a proposed budget cut would hinder "essential" government services (firefighters, police, education, etc.).
Although intended to highlight the government's value to voters, it can also be aimed at lawmakers themselves. Faced with budget cuts in the 1970s, Amtrak announced plans to cease train routes in the home districts of several members of Congress. [3]
The term was first used after George Hartzog, the seventh director of the National Park Service, closed popular national parks such as the Washington Monument and Grand Canyon National Park for two days a week in 1969. In response to complaints, Congress eventually restored the funding. [5] In 1972, Hartzog was fired by the Nixon administration, and this action is often incorrectly cited as a contributing factor. [6] [7]
The architectural historian Nicole Sully has termed the shutdown of the "Pandacam" at the National Zoo and the fencing off of the National World War II Memorial during the United States federal government shutdown of 2013 to be examples of the "syndrome". Sully writes: "In reality, the closure of these monuments was likely to have been undertaken, firstly, for reasons of public liability, maintenance and security, and secondly, to ensure that the shutdown was made visible to the public – and it was for this latter reason that it was widely questioned by the public and the media." [6]
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government, within the United States Department of the Interior. The Service manages all national parks; most national monuments; and other natural, historical, and recreational properties, with various title designations. The United States Congress created the agency on August 25, 1916, through the National Park Service Organic Act. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C., within the main headquarters of the Department of the Interior.
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, United States. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed the sculpture, called Shrine of Democracy, and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation, respectively. Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually to the memorial park which covers 1,278 acres. The mountain's elevation is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.
John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Georgia, statues of Union General Philip Sheridan in Washington D.C. and in Chicago, as well as a bust of Abraham Lincoln which was exhibited in the White House by Theodore Roosevelt and which is now held in the United States Capitol crypt in Washington, D.C.
In the United States, a continuing resolution is a type of appropriations legislation. An appropriations bill is a bill that appropriates money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operations, personnel, equipment, and activities. Regular appropriations bills are passed annually, with the funding they provide covering one fiscal year. The fiscal year is the accounting period of the federal government, which runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following year.
In the United States, government shutdowns occur when funding legislation required to finance the federal government is not enacted before the next fiscal year begins. In a shutdown, the federal government curtails agency activities and services, ceases non-essential operations, furloughs non-essential workers, and retains only essential employees in departments that protect human life or property. Shutdowns can also disrupt state, territorial, and local levels of government.
The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 days before the end of the presidential term to which Barack Obama was elected in 2008. Senators elected to regular terms in 2006 completed those terms in this Congress. This Congress included the last House of Representatives elected from congressional districts that were apportioned based on the 2000 census.
The Herbert C. Hoover Building is the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the United States Department of Commerce.
George Benjamin Hartzog Jr. was an American attorney and Director of the National Park Service. Admitted to the bar in South Carolina in 1942, he became an attorney for the General Land Office in the Department of the Interior in 1945, and six months later transferred to the National Park Service.
The 2011 United States federal budget was the United States federal budget to fund government operations for the fiscal year 2011. The budget was the subject of a spending request by President Barack Obama. The actual appropriations for Fiscal Year 2011 had to be authorized by the full Congress before it could take effect, according to the U.S. budget process.
The Firemen's Monument is a 28 ft 0 in (8.53 m) tall monument in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, that was designed by American sculptor Caspar Buberl and completed in 1891. The monument was built to commemorate the Volunteer Fire Department in Church Square Park on May 30, 1891.
The 2011 Minnesota state government shutdown was a government shutdown affecting the U.S. state of Minnesota. The shutdown was the result of a fiscal dispute between the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) Governor Mark Dayton and the Republican-majority Minnesota Legislature, that was not resolved by the constitutional deadline on June 30. The Republican caucuses and their leaders demanded bigger spending cuts, and for the budget shortfall to be met without tax increases, while Dayton demanded some tax increases. The shutdown started at midnight on July 1, and ended after a budget bill was passed and signed on July 20.
From October 1 to October 17, 2013, the United States federal government entered a shutdown and curtailed most routine operations because neither legislation appropriating funds for fiscal year 2014 nor a continuing resolution for the interim authorization of appropriations for fiscal year 2014 was enacted in time. Regular government operations resumed October 17 after an interim appropriations bill was signed into law.
The October 2013 mini-continuing resolutions were a set of continuing resolutions that would have provided funding for a limited set of federal agencies during the United States federal government shutdown of 2013. The bills were part of a Republican strategy to fund portions of the government which have bipartisan support, in order to spare those agencies and programs from the effects of the shutdown. The bills all passed the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress, but were ignored by the United States Senate. These selective continuing resolutions became moot upon the passage of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 which funded the entire government, ending the shutdown.
As a result of conflicts between Democratic President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress over funding for education, the environment, and public health in the 1996 federal budget, the United States federal government shut down from November 14 through November 19, 1995, and from December 16, 1995, to January 6, 1996, for 5 and 21 days, respectively. Republicans also threatened not to raise the debt ceiling.
The United States federal government shutdown from Saturday, October 6, until Monday, October 8, 1990. It stemmed from the fact that a deficit reduction package negotiated by President George H. W. Bush contained tax increases, despite his campaign promise of "read my lips: no new taxes", leading to a revolt led by House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich that defeated the initial appropriations package. Because the shutdown occurred over a weekend, the effects of the shutdown were lessened, with the National Parks and the Smithsonian museums being the most visible closures. Around 2,800 workers were furloughed, with the government losing $2.57 million in lost revenue and back wages.
The United States federal government shutdown from midnight EST on December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019 was the longest government shutdown in history and the second and final federal government shutdown involving furloughs during the presidency of Donald Trump. It occurred when the 115th Congress and Trump could not agree on an appropriations bill to fund the operations of the federal government for the 2019 fiscal year, or a temporary continuing resolution that would extend the deadline for passing a bill. The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal departments or agencies from conducting non-essential operations without appropriations legislation in place. As a result, nine executive departments with around 800,000 employees had to shut down partially or in full, affecting about one-fourth of government activities and causing employees to be furloughed or required to work without being paid. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the shutdown cost the American economy at least $11 billion USD, excluding indirect costs that were difficult to quantify.
A government shutdown occurs when the legislative branch does not pass key bills which fund or authorize the operations of the executive branch, resulting in the cessation of some or all operations of a government.
A Fireworks Celebration at Mount Rushmore held on July 3, 2020, was the first and only use of fireworks at Mount Rushmore since 2008. President Donald Trump spoke at the event, which was also attended by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, host of Entertainment Tonight Mary Hart, First Lady Melania Trump and Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr.