New news agency: At 0: 00 local time on October 1st, the U.S. federal government "shut down" again after nearly seven years.Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be forced to take unpaid leave, some public services will be suspended or delayed, and the release of economic data will be affected. Previously, the two parties in the United States failed to reach an agreement on a new interim funding bill due to differences in medical insurance benefits.
Parliament Building, photo of Xinhua Agency
Local time on September 30th. The U.S. Senate failed to pass a provisional allocation bill, and the federal government began to "stop" at midnight that day, the first "stop" of the federal government in seven years, and the second "stop" in Trump's term.
The "shutdown" of the government refers to the situation that the federal government stops non-essential services because Congress fails to pass a budget bill or a continuous resolution. The federal government typically temporarily closes non-core sectors.
According to the Associated Press, on September 30, local time, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimated, If a federal government shutdown occurs, about 750,000 federal employees could be forced into unpaid leave every day.The specific impact of the shutdown will depend on its duration and the specific operating arrangements of the government during the shutdown, but the economic losses may be difficult to recover. Though several departments such as the U.S. Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security have announced that some key functions will continue to operate, large-scale employee leave will lead to its overall administrative efficiency decline. The shutdown could cost the U.S. tourism industry $1 billion a week.
The last "stop" caused the United States to lose $11 billion
The U.S. federal government’s operating funds should have come from annual budget allocations. Congress and the two parties should typically pass the new annual allocation bill before the start of the new fiscal year on October 1.But because of the intense struggle between the two parties in recent years and often failing to reach a timely agreement, Congress has tried to temporarily keep the federal government operating through a temporary allocation bill.
On March 14th this year, the U.S. Senate passed a short-term appropriation bill to provide funds for the federal government until September 30th, thus avoiding the "shutdown" crisis of the government at that time.
In order to avoid another "shutdown", on the evening of September 29th, Trump met with the leaders of both parties in Congress at the White House to discuss the temporary appropriation bill. However, after the meeting, the statements of both sides showed that * and the Republican parties did not agree.
The last, and longest, "stop" of the U.S. federal government occurred in late 2018 to early 2019, during Trump's first term, the Democratic Party opposed Trump's proposed border wall project allocations, and the two parties fought on immigration issues, leading to 35 days of government shutdown.
At that time, about a quarter of federal government agencies in the United States were closed, involving multiple key departments, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the State Department and the Department of Justice. About 800,000 federal government employees were forced to work without pay or take mandatory leave.
According to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, This “stagnation” has caused the U.S. economy a loss of about $11 billion.
The US government has been "shut down" more than 20 times
The U.S. federal government has been in a "shutdown" dilemma more than 20 times in its history. The U.S. government experienced its first "shutdown" in 1977, lasting a total of 28 days.
During the 2013 administration of former President Obama, some conservative Republican lawmakers blocked the implementation of Obama’s medical reform bill, causing the government to “stop” for 16 days.
During the reign of former US President Clinton, the federal government twice “stopped” and approximately 28,000 government officials were forced off.
During George H.W. Bush's administration, some agencies of the US federal government also stopped operating in October 1990.
Source: Central News Agency