In many other countries, a total or partial shutdown of the Government would be an unusual event. In USA It has become a relatively frequent occurrence, a political tool used by the two major political parties to impose their agendas at the cost of paralyzing a part of the country and sending hundreds of thousands of officials home until further notice. The umpteenth lack of understanding between Republicans and Democrats has resulted in the fifth government shutdown in the last two decades, a dispute focused on health subsidies for millions of citizens that could lead to the longest shutdown in the history of the country. At the moment, it will be three weeks since the closure that began on October 1. And, for now, without any sign of resolution.
What does it mean that the Government is closed?
The government shutdowngovernment shutdown, in English) occurs in the United States when Congress does not approve the federal budget or a temporary financing law before the beginning of a new fiscal year, that is, every October 1. In that case, the Government cannot spend money on most of its activities because the Constitution requires that all public spending be authorized by law.
For this reason, the closure has left national parks with few staff, airports with delays due to the shortage of air traffic controllers and thousands of officials on temporary layoff, without knowing when they will collect their salaries again or if they will be paid for the time worked – in the case of those who remain active as essential services – when the confinement ends.
Donald Trump has taken advantage of this impasse to accelerate the reduction in the size of the Government with another wave of layoffs: about 4,100, with the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services as the main affected, a measure of political pressure that he assures is oriented towards the Democrats, whom he directly blames for the closure. Although, in this regard, a federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday ordered the Trump Administration to immediately stop its efforts to lay off federal workers during the government shutdown.
Progressives refuse to sign an extension of the Budget to negotiate after the fact if health subsidies are not extended Obamacare, that expire at the end of the year, nor are some of the conditions of the Trump tax law that would end health coverage for millions of Americans modified.
Who is being affected by the closure?
While Democrats and Republicans decide to bury the hatchet, emblematic places for tourists such as the Statue of Liberty or the National Mall in Washington remain closed. National parks such as Yosemite or Yellowstone will be open, but with minimal services for the duration of the government closure, and at airports such as Burbank, California, or Nashville, Tennessee, flight delays have become a constant due to the lack of air traffic controllers. Many have chosen to call in sick to work knowing that they will not be paid until there is an agreement in Washington.
In the US Treasury the rout has been monumental. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced last week that it was temporarily laying off 34,400 of its 74,300 employees, putting the department on hold and coinciding with one of the most important deadlines of the year: October 15, when the deadline to file taxes for extension applicants expired.
As María Ramos, president of the National Treasury Employees Union in Austin, Texas, alerted CNN, “The tax returns will arrive, but there will be no one to process them”. In total, 600,000 people have been suspended from pay and employment and many others remain in their jobs without pay.
Retroactive payment, in the air
As part of the pressure on Democrats, Trump has threatened to leave without pay some of the officials who remain employed without receiving their biweekly payroll.
“The majority will receive their back pay, and we will try to ensure that this is the case”he declared on Wednesday. “But some are being severely harmed by Democrats and therefore will not qualify” to collect. By law, federal workers must be paid once the government reopens, although Trump is sowing doubt with his usual threatening rhetoric.
Yolanda Jacobs, a health specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), knows well what government closures are, although she maintains that this one is different. “We have never before had a shutdown where federal employees were used as bargaining chips,” he tells The New York Times. While waiting for the political imbroglio to be resolved, he has chosen to cut expenses in the face of uncertainty. No trips to the movies or dinner, as he used to do once a week with his three daughters. This looks like it’s going to take a long time.