WASHINGTON: Efforts to quickly end the United States government shutdown failed when senators rejected a plan to resolve the funding standoff between President Donald Trump and Congressional Democrats.
The government ran out of money after Trump and lawmakers failed to agree on a deal to maintain operations.
Many federal departments and agencies have been closed since midnight when funding expired.
Senate Democrats refused to help majority Republicans approve a House-passed bill that would have reopened the government for several weeks.
Democrats are demanding extended health care subsidies for low income families as part of any funding agreement.
Approximately 750,000 public sector workers are expected to be placed on furlough with pay withheld until they return to work.
Essential workers including military personnel and border agents may be forced to work without pay.
Some workers will likely miss paychecks next week due to the funding lapse.
Government shutdowns are a periodic feature of gridlocked Washington politics.
This marks the first shutdown since a record 35-day pause in 2019 during Trump’s first term.
Shutdowns prove unpopular because multiple services used by ordinary voters become unavailable.
National parks and permit applications are among the services affected during shutdowns.
This shutdown occurs against a darker backdrop of Trump racing to enact hard-right policies.
The administration is considering slashing entire government departments as part of its agenda.
The White House is threatening to turn many of the furloughs into mass firings.
Trump told reporters that good can come from shutdowns by eliminating Democrat priorities.
Democrats are motivated by grassroots anger over expiring health care subsidies.
They are also concerned about Trump’s dismantling of government agencies.
Democrats have been withholding Senate votes to fund the government as leverage.
Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a stop-gap funding fix.
This measure would keep federal functions running through late November.
The Senate requires 60 votes to send the bill to Trump’s desk.
Democrats say they won’t help unless Republicans compromise on spending cuts.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said senators must come together.
Schumer noted that Republicans have seen they don’t have the votes.
With no compromise on the table, both plans were expected to fail again.
Talks have been unusually bitter with Trump mocking Democratic leaders.
Senate Republican leaders need eight Democrats to join their majority.
They managed to get three moderates to cross the aisle in Tuesday’s initial vote.
Wednesday’s result went exactly the same way with insufficient Democratic support.
Democrats know that using government funding as leverage has usually failed historically.
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Democrats walked into a box canyon.
Congress is out Thursday for the Yom Kippur holiday.
The Senate returns to work on Friday and may be in session through the weekend.
The House of Representatives is not due back until next week. – AFP
