The United States government announced a shut down on Wednesday after Democrats and Republicans in the US Senate failed to pass a spending bill. The partisan division leads to what could result in the loss of thousands of federal jobs.
The shutdown is a first in seven years, since December 2018, when the government stopped running for the longest time, 35 days, during Trump’s first term. It is also the 15th since 1981.
The Senate vote on Tuesday night fell 55-45 short of the 60 needed to override the filibuster, which would pass the legislation. Passing it would have meant extensions for the federal funding for seven weeks.
The shutdown would furlough 750,000 workers, with some potentially being fired by the Trump administration, costing $400M in daily compensation.
The Republican party, which controls both the Senate and the House of Representatives, rejected the Democrats demands in relation to a proposed health care bill. It eventually ended with funding lapsing at midnight, with the Senate failing to advance both parties’ bills, which would have kept the government running, the Guardian reported.
The shutdown was seen as inevitable by Tuesday evening. Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said, “Republicans are plunging America into a shutdown, rejecting bipartisan talks, pushing a partisan bill, and risking America’s healthcare.”
The Democrats blamed Trump and the Republicans for the federal funding lapse.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, said in a joint statement that Democrats “remain ready to find a bipartisan path forward to reopen the government in a way that lowers costs and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis.”
“The country is in desperate need of an intervention to get out of another Trump shutdown,” they added.
South Dakota Republican leader Leader John Thune said that the short term spending bill was a non partisan measure that was devoid of partisan policy riders that Democrats have had no problem accepting in past years. “What’s changed is, President Trump is in the White House. That’s what this is about. This is politics. And there isn’t any substantive reason why there ought to be a government shutdown,” he said.
“Far-left interest groups and far-left Democrat members wanted to show down with the president, and so Senate Democrats have sacrificed the American people to Democrats’ partisan interests,” he added.
Independent analysts warn the shutdown could last longer than the budget-related closures of the past, with Trump and White House officials threatening to punish Democrats with cuts to government programs and the federal payroll.
The Senate Republicans have scheduled another round of voting for Wednesday morning with the goal of trying ot get the Democrats to change their minds.
US government shuts down; Democrats, Republicans play blame game
