The partial shutdown of the US federal government, which began at midnight on October 1, has become the longest in the country's history, breaking the record set in 2018-2019 during Donald Trump's first term (2017-2021).
The shutdown, which began at midnight on December 22, 2018, has ended on its 35th day, lasting a total of 34 days, 21 hours and 23 minutes.
As of 4:20 a.m. Bulgarian time on November 4, the bill that would allocate funding to restore the federal government has not yet been approved by Congress. The United States switched to daylight saving time on November 2, so the shutdown is now officially the longest in US history.
American media believe that there are no clear signs of the resumption of the US government in the foreseeable future. It requires the Republican and Democratic parties in the Senate to reach an agreement on certain spending items, including health care, and to pass the corresponding bill. The Senate, like the House of Representatives, is controlled by the Republican Party, which holds 53 seats, but the support of at least 60 senators is needed for the bill to pass in the upper chamber.
Democrats, whose votes are needed for the bill to pass, insist that it include a provision to allocate funds to health insurance programs used by an estimated 24 million Americans. Republicans, however, say that their political opponents hope to use taxpayer funds to provide health care to illegal immigrants.
Two bills that provide for the continuation of government funding are currently under consideration in the upper chamber of Congress. One was drafted by Republicans and passed the House of Representatives in September. The second was drafted by Democrats in the Senate. After 14 rounds of voting, neither bill has passed. Representatives of both parties have accused each other of provoking the government shutdown and prolonging it for political purposes.
On November 2, Trump said that he did not plan to succumb to the blackmail of Democrats and reach a deal with them to end the government shutdown. He said that he was ready to resolve the health care dispute only after the government shutdown is over.
The shutdown has caused an estimated 650,000 federal employees to be laid off. Another 600,000 government employees responsible for national security, foreign policy and the "protection of life and property" are forced to work without pay. It is expected that after the shutdown ends and funding is restored, government employees will receive their salaries retroactively, but Trump does not rule out the possibility that some of their salaries for the shutdown period will not be paid at all.
If the shutdown ends in the next few days, the losses to the US economy will amount to approximately $ 7 billion. But if it extends until the end of November, it could lead to losses of $ 14 billion. In addition, US GDP growth in the fourth quarter could decrease by 1-2%, depending on the duration of the shutdown.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant announced in late October that US military personnel will not receive salaries from November 15 due to the shutdown. So far, their payments have been made, in part, through a donation of $ 130 million, according to The New York Times, from long-time Trump supporter, billionaire Timothy Mellon. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the shortage of air traffic controllers and airport technicians caused by the shutdown threatened to cause a chain reaction of flight delays across the country. Trump had previously said that food aid funds were insufficient.