The United States (U.S.) government on Wednesday suspended most of its operations as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching an agreement on funding, triggering what could be a long and exhausting standoff that could lead to the loss of thousands of federal government jobs.
There was no clear way out of the deadlock, as agencies warned that the 15th government shutdown since 1981 would halt the release of the closely watched September employment report, slow down air traffic, cause the suspension of scientific research, deny pay to U.S. troops, and lead to the furlough of 750.000 federal workers at a daily cost of 400 million dollars.
Trump, whose campaign to radically reshape the federal government is already on track to lay off about 300.000 workers by December, warned Democrats in Congress that the shutdown could pave the way for “irreversible” actions, including eliminating more jobs and programs.
The shutdown began a few hours after the Senate rejected a short-term spending measure that would have kept government operations afloat until November 21st.
Democrats opposed the bill due to Republicans’ refusal to include an extension of health benefits for millions of Americans that expire at the end of the year. Republicans say that the issue must be resolved separately.
When it comes to government funding, the problem is 1.7 trillion dollars for agency operations, which amounts to about one-quarter of the total government budget of seven trillion dollars. A large part of the remainder goes to health and pension programs and interest payments on the growing debt of 37.5 trillion dollars.
Independent analysts warn that the shutdown could last longer than budget-related shutdowns in the past, while Trump and White House officials are threatening to punish Democrats by cutting government programs and federal pay.
