D.C. – The U.S. government is about to officially shut down after the Senate turned down a vital short-term funding package that Republicans wrote to keep the agency working until November 21. Because they couldn’t get an extension, the federal government’s spending power will stop at 12:01 a.m. (midnight), which will cause the first government shutdown in almost seven years.
The Republican-led effort failed to get the 60 votes needed to move on and break the Democratic block in the Senate, where the vote was 55 to 45. This procedural failure showed how deep the party divide was, with neither side prepared to give in as the funding deadline got closer.
The Healthcare Standoff
The heated fight over healthcare spending is the main reason why the shutdown is coming up. Senate Democrats have stuck to their guns and said that the financing plan must contain an extension of expiring health care benefits, such as Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits and a reversal of some Medicaid cuts.
Republicans, including President Donald Trump, said that the package should be a “stripped-down, ‘clean’ bill” with no policy issues that could cause problems. Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Senate Democrats, said that the GOP was trying to “bully” Democrats into submission. Trump responded by making fun of Democrats and saying that his administration would fire “a lot” of government workers if the shutdown continued.
Effects on Federal Employees and Services
After the midnight deadline, the White House Budget Office will send out a letter that officially starts the shutdown. The effects will be quick and far-reaching:
According to the Congressional Budget Office, some 750,000 federal workers might be put on temporary furloughs and lose pay. Essential workers, like military personnel, federal law enforcement officers, and air traffic controllers, will have to work, but they won’t get paid until Congress passes a spending bill.
Disrupted Services: Non-essential federal services will stop, which will affect everything from the operation of national parks to the processing of small business loans. This will slow down the flow of important U.S. economic data and make national services less efficient.
The economic impact: Even while fundamental required spending programs like Social Security and Medicare will continue, the administrative support services that go along with them could be affected, causing millions of Americans to have to wait and not know what will happen.
The fact that there was no solution reached even after last-minute negotiations at the White House shows that politics are stuck, which means that hundreds of thousands of federal employees will have to cope with uncertainty and financial stress, and government services will be disrupted across the country.