The 38-day shutdown, which
started on October 1st, is already the longest in US history and has caused
previously unheard-of interruptions to federal activities.
For the first time in
history, Donald Trump’s White House tried to halt payments under the
government’s food aid program, but a court order prevented them. Commercial
aviation traffic was likewise reduced by the Federal Aviation
Administration.
Despite the fact that
Republicans control both chambers of Congress, any spending proposal must
receive at least some support from both parties in order to pass the Senate
with 60 votes. Only three minority legislators have voted in favor of a
House-approved bill to extend funding through November 21st, despite Senate
majority leader John Thune’s 14 attempts to persuade Democrats to support it.
Thune planned to hold 15th
vote on Friday. He told Fox News that
“we’re going to give them a chance to
vote later today on paying people who are working”,
but did not say if he
was referring to a bill to reopen the government, or to pay some of the federal
workers who had stayed on the job without pay over the past weeks.
Any financing measure must,
according to Democrats, extend tax credits that cut rates
for people enrolled in Affordable Care Act health plans. The credits, which
were implemented during Joe Biden’s administration, are set to expire at the
end of the year, and the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that individuals
enrolled in those plans are anticipated to experience an average 26% increase
in their expenses in the near future.
The National Economic
Council’s director, Kevin Hassett, told reporters at the White House that he
anticipated the closure would reduce GDP growth by about half in the current
quarter, though much of it would be made up in the next quarter.
Trump has openly considered
not compensating federal employees, many of whom his administration has
disparaged, for the time the government was closed.
When the party’s candidates
won off-year elections in several states on Tuesday, Democrats’ determination
to resist the Republican funding proposal was strengthened. Party officials
said this was because voters supported their demands.
“Americans plagued by high
costs fired a political torpedo this week at Donald Trump and Republicans,”
the Senate’s top Democrat,
Chuck Schumer, said on Thursday.
“If Republicans were smart,
they would get the message after Tuesday that their do-nothing strategy isn’t
working. Even Donald Trump knows Americans hold Republicans responsible for
this mess.”
According to recent polls,
the GOP bears a lesser portion of the blame for the check than Egalitarians,
and some members of the party have advised that caving in to their demands now
might alienate lately electrified choosers.
What immediate services are most affected by the shutdown?
Suspense or detention in processing of civil benefits similar to
SNAP food aid and certain Social Security and stagers’ services, impacting
millions of vulnerable Americans. Closure of programs aiding service members
transitioning to mercenary life, including the GI Bill Hotline and affiliated
support services.
Halted conservation of public cemeteries, including monument
installations and grounds upkeep. Significant redundancies and overdue leave
for hundreds of thousands of civil workers, reducing pool capacity in multiple
agencies.
Dislocations in visa and passport processing and operations at US
delegacies and consulates abroad. Reduced capabilities at the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), limiting public health information,
outbreak monitoring, and exploration. Impact on disability determination
services that reuse Social Security disability benefits.
