October 1 is the first day of the U.S. federal government's shutdown. That morning, the U.S. Senate voted again on the provisional appropriations bill, but failed to break the deadlock with a difference of 7 votes. Lawmakers plan to continue voting on the 3rd and 4th.

The Trump administration took action on October 1 to freeze billions of dollars in funding to Democrat-dominated states and prepare to immediately advance layoffs that may involve a large number of civil servants.

Analysts pointed out that such initiatives are both unprecedented and punitive in nature, highlighting the risks of this endless fiscal impasse.Trump may use the ¡°stopping¡± to advance the political agenda, cut budgets, and avenge political opponents.

A dangerous precedent

White House administration and budget chief Walter said on the same day that the government announced a freeze of approximately $26 billion in federal funds mainly aimed at a number of Democrat-dominated/tendent-state projects, including approximately $18 billion in allocations for two major New York State tracks and approximately $8 billion for green energy projects in 16 states.

The Department of Transportation said it will review the compliance of New York State appropriations in accordance with Trump's anti-"diversity, fairness and inclusion "executive order.

Watt¡¯s decision was a formal implementation of Trump¡¯s threat the day before, Trump said earlier that a government shutdown was a ¡°good opportunity¡± to tackle Democrats by cutting down federal institutions, projects and benefits he didn¡¯t support.

The $18 billion in federal funds previously promised to New York State were originally used for subway line expansion and Hudson River tunnel project. The project area is located in the constituencies of Jeffries, the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, and Schumer, the minority leader of the Senate, respectively. Both of them had disputes with Trump about the government's "shutdown".

Tom Wright, chairman of the Urban Planning Association, said fund freezing would create a dangerous precedent ¨C private contractors could be cautious about participating in large public projects in the future, and the longer the project delays, the higher the over-spending costs, and a one-month delay could add tens of millions of dollars to the Hudson River Tunnel project.

¡°Cut out¡± in a couple of days.

Trump has also previously said a new round of mass layoffs may be launched, targeting a "large number" of government workers. On October 1st, layoffs seemed imminent.

At a closed-door meeting with Republicans in the House of Representatives, Watter said the cuts could be implemented ¡°in the next day or two.¡±

US Vice President Vance also emphasized the need for layoffs at the White House briefing later. In this regard, Schumer identified Republicans' attempt to use federal employees as pawns in this budget dispute as a means of intimidation and threat. The Republican Party retorted and asked the Democratic Party to support the restart of the government's appropriation bill.

There are signs that the cuts are moving forward. Internal mail shows that Trump administration officials on Wednesday instructed Department of Internal Affairs employees to bring government equipment home in order to receive notifications about mass cuts. The number of federal government employees is expected to decrease by 300,000 by the end of this year compared to the beginning of the year.

Fearing mass layoffs, multiple unions representing federal employees preemptively filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration this week, saying it had no authority to use the government shutdown as an excuse to impose mass layoffs. The case is currently being tried by a federal court in California.

Risk of power expansion

The Trump administration's move not only further escalated the originally tight budget deadlock, but also triggered heated discussions about * power, political retaliation and the neutrality of federal services.

Public opinion noted that the freezing of appropriations was not a response to the technical handling of the "stop-up", but with obvious features aimed at the "tactical goals": prioritizing the suspension of allocations for major projects in Blue State, intended to use financial leverage to pressure the Democrats, while creating panic and segregation in the media and the public.

The practice of threatening to fire federal employees during the "shutdown" has aroused doubts from the legal profession. According to the new guidance of the Office of Personnel Management, only a pre-established personnel adjustment plan can be implemented during the "shutdown" period, that is, the government cannot escalate retaliation against federal employees through round after round of dismissal during the "shutdown". However, the Trump administration's actions show its position: federal employees are disposed of at will.

During the "shutdown" period, party strife will continue to intensify. Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington said the new action showed that Trump and Walter were "gloating on using the government 'shutdown' as an excuse to do more harm." Some Republicans warned,"You have to be very careful or you may make the atmosphere here more toxic."

In the latest round of voting on the provisional appropriations bill on Oct. 1, it was seven votes short of passage. Washington is paying close attention to several Senate Democrats, including some moderates and those who have pushed for a compromise between the two parties, hoping that they will "defect" to break the deadlock. However, so far, most Democrats have stood firm, and the longer the government's "shutdown" lasts, the greater the pressure on both sides to seek solutions.

(Editor's email: ylq@jfdaily.com)

Original title: "On the first day of the government's" shutdown ", Trump froze $26 billion to punish the Blue State. How many people will this party struggle drag down?"

Column editor: Yang Li Group Text editor: Yang Li Group Source: Xinhua Agency

Source: The Liberation Daily