History Recap / TheWestWingS05E08Shutdown

As the motorcade passes a tour-bus outside the National Archives, which have been closed due to the shut-down, Bartlet orders it to pull over, because the bus has register plates from Kansas. Feeling that the tourists have come a long way just to get stuck in a government shutdown, Bartlet decides to at least allow them a consolation prize: he gets out his car and approaches the tour-bus, speaking with the stranded tourists and charming them with his friendly, down-to-earth manner. The situation gives Josh an idea; as the Capitol Building is only a few minutes away, he convinces Bartlet to walk the rest of the way, further cementing his humility in the eyes of the public. The media coverage this receives throws the Republican leadership off-guard, and when Bartlet arrives to see Speaker Haffley he is surprised when the Speaker refuses to see him right away. Although Senate Leader Robert Royce argues that they can't keep the President waiting, Speaker Haffley refuses to see the President until the Republican negotiating position has been finalised. This means that Bartlet is kept waiting in the corridor for seven minutes, and although Angela views it as a disaster Josh sees it as an opportunity; he advises the President to leave, meaning that when the Republican leadership eventually emerges the President has gone.

As the motorcade passes a tour-bus outside the National Archives, which have been closed due to the shut-down, Bartlet orders it to pull over, because the bus has register plates from Kansas. Those tourists have come a long way to get stuck in a government shutdown. He gets out his car and approaches the tour-bus, speaking with the stranded tourists and charming them with his friendly, down-to-earth manner. The situation gives Josh an idea; as the Capitol Building is only a few minutes away, he convinces Bartlet to walk the rest of the way, further cementing his humility in the eyes of the public. The media coverage this receives throws the Republican leadership off-guard, and when Bartlet arrives to see Speaker Haffley he is surprised when the Speaker refuses to see him right away. Although Senate Leader Robert Royce argues that they can't keep the President waiting, Speaker Haffley refuses to see the President until the Republican negotiating position has been finalised. This means that Bartlet is kept waiting in the corridor for seven minutes, and although Angela views it as a disaster Josh sees it as an opportunity; he advises the President to leave, meaning that when the Republican leadership eventually emerges the President has gone.

'''Bartlet:''' No. We were 100 billion apart, and I met you halfway, at 50 billion. Then we were 50 billion apart, and I suspect if I'd gone down to 25, we'd be 12 billion apart.\\

As the motorcade passes a tour-bus outside the National Archives, which have been closed due to the shut-down, Bartlet orders it to pull over. He gets out his car and approaches the tour-bus, speaking with the stranded tourists and charming them with his friendly, down-to-earth manner. The situation gives Josh an idea; as the Capitol Building is only a few minutes away, he convinces Bartlet to walk the rest of the way, further cementing his humility in the eyes of the public. The media coverage this receives throws the Republican leadership off-guard, and when Bartlet arrives to see Speaker Haffley he is surprised when the Speaker refuses to see him right away. Although Senate Leader Robert Royce argues that they can't keep the President waiting, Speaker Haffley refuses to see the President until the Republican negotiating position has been finalised. This means that Bartlet is kept waiting in the corridor for seven minutes, and although Angela views it as a disaster Josh sees it as an opportunity; he advises the President to leave, meaning that when the Republican leadership eventually emerges the President has gone.

* ArtisticLicense: Of US Law. Haffley is trying to shift the blame for the shutdown onto the White House as if the White House would be responsible for it. A government shutdown is due to a lack of funding and the funding of the federal government is the sole responsibility of Congress. And while the President can disagree on the bill in question for the budget, that doesn't necessarily mean that the President is responsible for the shutdown. [[NeverMyFault But Haffley is playing up Bartlet's disagreement just to play politics]].

* RuleOfSymbolism: At several points throughout the episode, characters complain of catching a cold that's been travelling around. At the end of the episode, Haffley complains of catching the cold, symbolising how his position has been weakened.

!!Provides examples of:

Public mood begins to turn against the Republicans and Congress. The President's actions have demonstrated him to be humble and willing to negotiate in the face of the public suffering during the shutdown, while the Speaker's snub of the President suggests the Republican leadership to be more interested in playing politics than ending the shutdown. Further public humiliation for the President is averted when it is announced that the State Dinner for the British Prime Minister will instead be held as an intimate get-together between President Bartlet, Abbey Bartlet, the Prime Minister and his wife rather than an elaborate banquet, with Abbey serving a home-cooked Coronation Chicken as the meal. Speaker Haffley thus has no choice to approach the President to reopen negotiations.

The episode opens at the climax of the previous one where, at a meeting to agree upon a third continuing resolution for the budget while negotiations continue, Speaker of the House Jeff Haffley throws the President and his staff an unexpected hurdle when he rejects the previously-agreed upon cuts of one percent to all government funding out of nowhere, instead demanding three percent cuts. President Bartlet refuses to comply, and when warned that the failure to pass the continuing resolution means that the government will shut down at midnight that night, his only response is "then shut it down."

As Haffley gleefully leads the Republican leadership in denouncing the shutdown to the press and blaming Bartlet for it, Leo orders all non-essential White House staff -- including Donna -- to cease work and go home. As the shut-down is framed by the Republicans and the media as the White House's fault, the President's approval ratings begin to plummet as the public turn against him. Privately, the White House senior staff begin to fear that Bartlet has collapsed under the strain of recent events and begin to negotiate a compromise agreement without the President's knowledge. Josh argues that the President instead needs to remain firm and demonstrate that he won't be bullied by Congress, but since he is still in Leo's bad books after his actions led to a Democratic senator joining the Republican Party, he is excluded from the discussions.

As the President's approval ratings continue to slip and further embarrassment looms in an approaching State Dinner with the British Prime Minister that will potentially have to be cancelled due to the shutdown, Vice President Russell offers to begin negotiating with Congress. The media begins to frame Speaker Haffley as the true leader of the government, and Bartlet as powerless. Without telling the President, the senior staff agree to accept Haffley's original terms of three percent cuts in government funding for a continuing resolution, but when Bartlet learns this he refuses to accept the deal, prolonging the shutdown further. Donna, secretly working from home, informs Josh that social security payments are at risk from the shutdown and urges Josh to join the negotiations, but Josh stubbornly refuses, waiting for Leo to approach him.

In order to break the President out of his funk, Leo calls Abbey Bartlet back from her self-imposed exile from Washington to counsel Bartlet. Abbey notices that Josh is absent from the negotiations, and Bartlet orders Leo to bring Josh back into the fold. During a conversation about the President, Toby dismissively suggests that the President and Josh are the only two people present who don't understand the gravity of the situation and that they've lost, but C.J unexpectedly disagrees. She suggests that the White House senior staff have been so concerned with protecting the President and walking on eggshells around him following the kidnapping of Zoe Bartlet that they in fact haven't realised that the President is the only one showing signs of leadership in this situation where everyone else is merely folding to the Speaker's demands.

In order to break the President out of his funk, Leo calls Abbey Bartlet back from her self-imposed exile from Washington to counsel Bartlet. Abbey notices that Josh is absent from the negotiations, and Bartlet orders Leo to bring Josh back into the fold. During a conversation about the President, Toby dismissively suggests that the President and Josh are the only two people present who don't understand the gravity of the situation and that they've lost, but C.J unexpectedly disagrees. She suggests that the White House senior staff have been so concerned with protecting the President and walking around eggshells around him following the kidnapping of Zoe Bartlet that they in fact haven't realised that the President is the only one showing signs of leadership in this situation where everyone else is merely folding to the Speaker's demands.