Shutdown in the USA has reached record length

Dispute over the US budget

Shutdown in the USA has reached record length

Since October nothing has been working in many US authorities. The divided parliament is unable to pass a new budget and government business is partially at a standstill. Now a historic brand has been broken.

The partial shutdown of government business in the USA due to an indecisive budget has become the longest in the country’s history. The 36th day of the so-called shutdown began on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday (local time), which has serious consequences for the population and the economy. The longest shutdown to date ended after 35 days in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

The ongoing partial standstill of government business is also becoming increasingly noticeable in the everyday lives of Americans. Many federal agency employees have not been paid since October. There are long queues at airports because processing is not as usual. And those who are dependent on food aid currently have to wait longer. Institutions classified as not systemically important, such as the Bureau for Labor Statistics, had to close or send their employees on compulsory leave.

Actually, the US Parliament should have agreed on a new federal budget by the end of September. However, a draft from Trump’s Republican Party for an interim budget did not find the required majority in Congress. A Democratic proposal had previously failed. Because budget funds were no longer available, parts of government activity came to a standstill.

There has been a power struggle between Republicans and Democrats in Washington for some time. Both blame each other for the shutdown. Although Republicans have the majority in both chambers of parliament – the House of Representatives and the Senate – they rely on votes from Democrats to resolve the budget impasse.

The Democrats want to reverse cuts in the state pension program for low-income people. These cuts were part of Trump’s major tax law. Republicans oppose changes because the law was only passed in the summer.

Trump’s party wants to limit subsidies for private health insurance. They should only be valid for two years – and only for people with legal residence status. The Democrats, on the other hand, believe that a permanent continuation of the subsidies is appropriate to ensure millions of Americans have access to affordable health insurance. In contrast to Germany, there is no general state health insurance in the USA.

The big question remains: When will which party make concessions and thereby create the basis for a sustainable budget? With an interim budget, the US government could at least resume operations on a larger scale.

When the longest shutdown to date lasted 35 days in 2018/19, Trump was in the middle of his first term in office. At that time, the two parties only moved towards each other after the majority of the population blamed the Republicans for the budget impasse and economic losses piled up. Trump signed a law on January 25, 2019 that allowed the partial resumption of government operations.