Trump wants to change the rules of democracy to end the longest shutdown in US history

Although the blame is widely distributed, the party that controls the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate —something that did not happen in 2019, when it was the Democrats who had a majority in the Congress— is considered the main person responsible.

The problem, furthermore, is that the resistance of the opposition has ended up causing cracks in the Republican Party. For the Government to reopen there must be an agreement on the budget items. Right now there is not one because the Democrats demand the expansion of subsidies to users of the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as “Obamacare” and a target of Trump’s attacks even before entering the White House for the first time.

Of course, the Republicans flatly refuse… but there is a part of the conservative senators who think that including this expansion of subsidies may be a reasonable price to pay if that serves to pass the rest of the budget and break the blockade.

Currently, Trump’s party has an absolute majority in both chambers, but needs 60 affirmative votes in the Senate to approve funding for the federal government. He’s only 53.

Trump demands an end to the filibuster

In other words, if 13 Republican senators voted yes to the expansion of Obamacare, as long as Democrats committed to supporting other more controversial items, the Government could get back up and running. That seems to be the majority position among conservative congressmen, as the House speaker has made clear, Mike Johnsonand Senate Majority Leader, John Thune. The only one who has stated that he is not going to give in under any circumstances is Rand Paulwith a long liberal tradition and enemy of any State spending.

However, as usual, President Trump has a more direct solution in mind: ending the need for consensus.

The Constitution American does not say anywhere that the necessary majority of 60 senators is needed; It is simply what has been done since the beginning of the 19th century with very slight modifications, such as the confirmation of candidates for certain positions in the Administrationwhich is already done by simple majority.

The blocking by the minority of the decisions of the majority—the well-known “filibuster” in American political jargon—could, strictly speaking, be eliminated at any time if that majority so decided. Why don’t you do it? Beyond the damage that would be done to the very essence of American parliamentarism, there is the fear that the situation will be reversed.

Both Trump in his first term and Joe Biden more recently they flirted with the idea of ​​adopting such a measure, but the risk was evident: if their parties were later in the minority, as was indeed the case in both cases, they would be unable to exercise any practical control over the Government.

Aid is in danger

In his plea, expressed on the social network Truth Social, Trump asked his congressmen to break the consensus in order to “have the best prosecutors and the best judges.” The thing is that these positions are already elected by simple majority and it is strange that the president does not know it. Trump, who initially did not take a dim view of the government shutdown and who has threatened to cancel officials’ payments and not reimburse them for lost days, now seems the biggest defender of federal agencies returning to fulfill their functions.

And the emergency funds are running out and there are several programs and sectors that are in danger. For example, the SNAP program (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) has now been bankrupt for four days. The nutrition of up to 40 million Americans depends on it.who may be condemned to hunger. Energy aid funds, the so-called LIHEAP, a government aid that complements spending on electricity and gas bills, are also in danger.

Looking ahead to the coming winter – and winter can be really harsh in certain parts of the United States – tens of thousands of households could see their power cut off. Similarly, some four and a half million public employees dependent on the federal government may see a second month without pay accumulate. On other occasions, the Government has subsequently returned the amounts owed, but, as we have said, Trump threatens not to do so this time.

very serious problems

However, there are two sectors critical to the functioning of the United States that are in a very delicate situation right now. These are air traffic controllers and the military. Both depend on the Washington Government and, therefore, are not receiving their payrolls. As they are considered essential workers, they cannot be absent from their jobs and must continue to perform their duties without pay. This is causing many of them to take sick leave or, directly, to have looked for second jobs to be able to cope with their daily lives.

All of this has caused delays and cancellations to accumulate throughout the country in recent weeks, something that could result in true chaos if the closure is maintained for the Thanksgiving Dayto be celebrated next November 27. It is estimated that last year, up to 20 million Americans flew in for the country’s most family-friendly holiday. The associated economic losses can be counted in billions of dollars.

In the same way, it is difficult to explain to a soldier assigned to the Middle East or any foreign country that, despite risking his life for his country, his salary is not going to reach him due to a political game. Complicated and dangerous for a party whose conservative voters have in Army to one of its symbols. Nor are the agents charging FBI nor of the CIA nor the workers of the Pentagon. Abusing their patience can have serious consequences for the country’s security and that is something that is in no one’s interest.