On Oct. 1, the federal government shut down after Congress failed to pass a new budget, forcing federal agencies to close and leaving thousands of workers without pay.
A government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass funding bills, forcing the government to shut down until they are able to come to an agreement.
The Democratic Party wants affordable health care for all Americans, which they see as a right, not a privilege, while Republicans want a funding bill that keeps government operations going.
According to ABC News, on Oct. 7, President Donald Trump called the Democrats’ shutdown strategy “a kamikaze attack” that has handed his administration the opportunity to cut billions and billions in waste, fraud and abuse.
The top two Democratic leaders, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his House counterpart Hakeem Jeffries, have requested a meeting with Trump after the last one went sideways. According to NBC, some Republicans say it wouldn’t hurt for him to engage more to get the government reopened, but they doubt he will..
“[Jeffries] and I reached out to the president today and urged him to sit down and negotiate with us to resolve the health care crisis, address it and end the Trump shutdown,” Schumer told reporters on Oct. 21, “ [Jeffries and I] urged him to meet with us, and we said we’ll set up an appointment with him any time, any place, before he leaves.”
According to NBC News, Trump met only once with Schumer and Jeffries on Sept. 29, two days before the shutdown began. It did not go well. He reacted hours later by taunting the two Democrats with an AI-generated post that put words in Schumer’s mouth and a sombrero on Jeffries’ head.
The redirection on both sides has been extreme in the attempt to point blame for who’s responsible for the government shutdown. Both sides have yet to come to an agreement, and Congress is still unable to pass a bill.
Since the government has been shut down for a little more than a month now, citizens and government personnel are starting to feel the effects. Federal government employees are working without pay, causing long TSA lines in airports and delays in air travel. At the same time, food stamp recipients’ benefits are still being debated, and some federally managed national parks, such as the Smithsonian Institution, are closed.
According to BBC News, “The Trump administration has already moved to lay off about 4,000 workers as the shutdown continues, though that was temporarily blocked by a federal judge. The White House is appealing against the ruling.”
“The longer this unnecessary shutdown lasts, the more negative consequences it will start to have. Without regular staffing, litter will pile up, and park ecosystems will be affected,” added CBS News.
As budget negotiations continue in Washington, D.C, federal agencies remain on high alert. The government shutdown continues, and millions of Americans continue to feel its effects. The longer the U.S. government is shut down, the more Americans who will lose their jobs and become unable to provide for themselves, and their families. Prolonged shutdowns can have ripple effects across the economy. Beyond political drama, the shutdown highlights a deeper challenge of how to keep the government functioning in a time of constant division.
Lawmakers face a deadline to come to an agreement. The coming days will determine whether federal operations can return to normal or if they may not. For now, the American people are forced to navigate the uncertainty created by the shutdown.
