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Hours after Congress failed to advance a stopgap measure to prevent a government shutdown, Gov. Mike Braun minimized the potential impact on Hoosiers, saying Indiana “isn’t as dependent on federal government largess.”
“We will get through it,” said Braun at a public safety event Wednesday. “If Indiana does lose some benefits in the short run, if it’s essential, we would look at maybe doing something to keep (them) in place.”
Indiana is the third-most reliant state when it comes to federal dollars.
The former, one-term U.S. senator harped on congressional budgeting — specifically, the nation’s level of debt.
“We’re spending 30% more than we’re taking in at the federal level,” said Braun, noting that the nation’s interest payments exceed annual spending on Medicare or defense. “… that explodes geometrically each year going forward. So they are going to have to figure out how they’re going to start living within their means so that we’re not putting that burden on future generations.”
A short-lived shutdown will likely have a minimal impact on the day-to-day lives of Hoosiers, with the exception of Indiana’s 24,000 federal employees. Some of those will stop being paid or could even be laid off following threats from President Donald Trump. The last partial government shutdown in 2018 lasted 35 days.
However, as detailed by the IndyStar, lengthy shutdowns can hurt Hoosiers accessing government services, including food benefits, national parks or passport applications.
On Wednesday afternoon, White House officials indicated a nutrition program for women, infants and children could “lapse.”
Indiana Congressman Jefferson Shreve, R-6th, said he will donate the equivalent of his shutdown pay to the Johnson County Boys and Girls Club.
“Hoosiers deserve a government that works for them — not political games,” he said.
One federal agency that won’t be impacted is Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. That includes the millions slated to come to Indiana following a recent agreement to use empty prison bed space to house federal immigrant detainees at a profit.
“From the beginning, I said Indiana is going to be a state that’s going to cooperate with ICE. We’re not going to be a sanctuary state; we don’t have sanctuary cities,” said Braun. “We still, though, suffer from the consequences of four years of open borders.”
He again emphasized his personal policy of “worst first,” meaning that immigration officials should prioritize removing criminal offenders. Early figures indicate that many of those arrested by ICE have no criminal background.
WTHR reported that the Miami Correctional Facility is set to start receiving detainees, with less than 100 scheduled to arrive this week as clergy continue to protest. The state agreed to appropriate nearly $16 million for facility upgrades last month.
Other news
Though Republicans are still drumming up support for mid-decade redistricting in a special session, Braun said that such a session wouldn’t include a legislative follow-up to Senate Enrolled Act 1. The priority bill limited how much local government units could collect in property taxes, shifting some of the taxing burden to local income taxes.
But those local income taxes need to be approved annually, threatening the credit ratings of some municipalities. Braun said he didn’t think it would be dealt with because “generally, taxpayers are happy with the results of it.”
In contrast, legislative leaders said last month that changes to the law would be a top priority, such as delaying certain deadlines to better assess the bill’s impact. Many governments, public schools and libraries have cut services in response to the funding cuts.
Despite nearly two months of constant pressure from the White House, including private meetings with Vice President JD Vance and Trump himself, no special session on redistricting has been scheduled. Previously, Braun floated the possibility of an early November special session.
When asked, Braun said redistricting was a daily topic among lawmakers and “evolving.”
“We’ve got time, and if we get there to where they want to do it, we’ll probably have a special session,” he said. “At this stage they’re still moving, I think, in that direction.”
The filing deadline to run for Congress in Indiana opens Jan. 7.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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