The United States will remain in a situation of budgetary paralysis at least until next week after the failure, Friday, October 3, of a vote in the Senate on a fourth budget proposal presented by the Republicans of Donald Trump. Senate leaders said they did not intend to sit over the weekend.
“It is possible that this Shutdown continues for weeks, not just a few days”said Andrew Koneschusky, a former spokesperson for Senator Chuck Schumer, the chief of the Democrat minority in the Senate. “For the moment, the two parties camp in their positions and there is a very little question of compromise. Things can always evolve (…) But for the time being, neither of the two camps seems ready to give in ”he added.
Due to the blocking at the Congress, the United States has been in the situation of Shutdown since Wednesday. Federal administrations are stopped and several hundred thousand civil servants, with functions considered to be “non-session”, are unemployed. Tourist sites such as the Washington Monument in the Federal Capital are closed while public services users face disturbances.
Another consequence of this situation: the publication of the monthly employment report in September did not take place on Friday, which deprives the first world economy of a major thermometer.
Republicans must convince eight elected democrats
The Republicans offer a simple extension of the current budget until the end of November. Democrats refuse, demanding the extension of public health insurance programs for the most deprived and denouncing clear cuts in health expenses decided by the Trump administration.
Even if they are the majority in the Senate, the Republicans must convince eight democrats to cross the 60 votes bar necessary for the adoption of the budget. But only three joined them during the last votes.
“This madness must endThe White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Friday. President Trump and the Republicans call for Democrats to reopen the administration immediately on behalf of the American public. »»
Les shutdowns are very unpopular in the United States and the presidential camp hopes that a sufficient number of Democratic senators will eventually vote in favor of its text. A survey published Thursday by the Washington Post shows that, out of 1,000 Americans interviewed, 47 % attribute the responsibility for blocking to Donald Trump and the Republicans, and 30 % point the role of Democrats.
“We hope that during the weekend, they will have the opportunity to think”launched the Republican leader in the Senate, John Thune.
Each camp strives while waiting to reject the responsibility of the blockage on the other: the White House accuses the Democrats of taking the government in “Hostage” For free medical care for immigrants. A lie according to the opposition, which denounces the refusal of the Republicans to lower the cost of health.
The president, for his part, threatened to take advantage of the situation to “Get rid” of federal agencies qualified as democrats and“Political scam”.
The latest Shutdown in the United States occurred from December 2018 to January 2019, during Donald Trump’s first term in the White House. He had lasted thirty-five days, a record.
