The United States federal government has come to a standstill after Donald Trump’s unsuccessful negotiations with the Democrats, which is poised to affect thousands across the nation.
In recent developments, the federal government has closed its operations for the first time since 2018 due to a stalemate in Congress, with both Republicans and Democrats pointing fingers at each other.
President Trump posted a behind-the-scenes image from his discussions with the Democrats in an attempt to prevent the shutdown, but his efforts did not yield the desired result.
The Senate aims to seek solutions on Wednesday (October 1) for a vote on the funding bill, which has failed twice already. However, many Republicans are not anticipated to be present in the capital for the voting process.
This uncertainty leaves the timeline for a resolution unclear at the moment.
Essentially, a shutdown implies that non-critical government functions are put on hold, affecting services like national park access and travel.
These agencies rely on funding being sanctioned in Congress, but with that currently stalled, they are forced to close their operations.
There is hope that an agreement can be reached soon, allowing the president to approve budget legislation for the upcoming fiscal year.
Federal employees are expected to bear the brunt of this shutdown, as they won’t receive any paychecks until the situation is resolved.
Employees who are not classified as essential will have to remain at home, and agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are likely to furlough their workers, according to the BBC.
The shutdown is also predicted to disrupt travel, with experts cautioning that lengthy security queues might become common at airports as unpaid air traffic controllers opt to stay home.
Although Air traffic control and Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) workers are considered ‘essential’, the BBC notes that they will not receive compensation until the shutdown ends.
During the previous shutdown, numerous workers opted to call in sick, likely due to the lack of pay, resulting in airport delays for travelers.
The current predicament arises from the inability of Republicans and Democrats to agree on a bill that funds governmental services from October onwards.
Despite the Republicans’ control over both chambers of Congress, they lack the 60 Senate votes needed to pass the spending bill.
The Democrats are blocking the Republican proposal, arguing it would make it more challenging for Americans to afford healthcare, among other issues.
They are demanding the reversal of Medicaid cuts made by Trump and are also opposing cuts to the CDC and NIH.
With the federal government now inactive, Trump has issued a warning about potential layoffs.
“The Democrats want to shut it down, well when you shut it down, you have to do layoffs. So we’d be laying off a lot of people who are going to be very affected. They’re going to be Democrats,” the president remarked on Tuesday (September 30).
“We’re doing well as a country, so the last thing we want to do is shut it down, but a lot of good can come from shutdowns. We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.”