Obama wanted shutdown pain to be felt by Americans, while Trump kept focus on Washington, experts argue
President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama are polar opposites in many ways, but, as anyone who has sat behind the Resolute Desk, they do share some similarities.One thing...
By Fox News · Fox News
President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama are polar opposites in many ways, but, as anyone who has sat behind the Resolute Desk, they do share some similarities. One thing both have in common is overseeing government shutdowns — one under Obama and two under Trump. And even in that sparse similarity, both men operated differently, particularly in the most recent, 43-day closure. While both congressional battles were centered on Obamacare, Obama put his shutdown at the center of attention, while Trump kept it at more of an arm’s length. HOW CLOSED-DOOR NEGOTIATIONS AND A GUARANTEE ENDED LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ON RECORD Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the CATO Institute, told Fox News Digital that a major difference in the Obama and Trump administration’s approaches to their respective shutdowns was that in 2013, Obama wanted the pain of shutdown to be felt by Americans, while Trump kept the focus centered on Washington, D.C. "During the Obama shutdown, it was more to make it extremely visible, shut down beloved functions — even if you didn't have to — that affect average Americans," she said. Boccia at the time worked for the conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation at the time and recalled the barricades that were swiftly erected around Washington, D.C.’s many national parks . Those barricades, both concrete and human, spilled out beyond the nation’s capital and were placed around the hundreds of national parks across America as a stark reminder that the government was closed. Boccia noted that a direct comparison of the two shutdowns would be difficult given the differing lengths, but that the Trump administration, at least early on, sought to inflict direct pain on congressional Democrats and the federal government. GOP UNITY SHATTERED BY CONTROVERSIAL MEASURE IN GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN BILL That was carried out largely by the Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who ordered mass firings of furlo…