[Global Times reports reporter Xiang Xinyue] Due to the deadlock between the two parties in the United States on the fiscal appropriation bill, the U.S. federal government has been "shut down" for more than a week since 0:00 on October 1. According to the Associated Press reported on the 8th, public services across the United States are being affected, and more than 800,000 federal government employees may face unpaid leave.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a notice on Monday that major air hubs were seriously delayed due to the government's "stopping" due to a shortage of air control personnel.Analysts warned that if the government's "stopping" lasted until November, "millions of Americans' Thanksgiving holidays could be destroyed."
According to the US "Political News Network" report, informed sources revealed that the White House Office of Management and Budget is preparing to allocate $12 billion to $13 billion from the internal account of the US Department of Agriculture, some of which may be used to help farmers affected by the US government's tariff policies and other economic policies. However, due to the "shutdown" of the federal government, this agricultural aid program originally scheduled to be promulgated on October 7th has been postponed.
Jeff Freeman, chief executive of the U.S. Tourism Association, said that every week of a “stop” would result in a billion dollars in tourism losses. The U.S. National Park Conservation Association estimated that national parks were closed during the “stop” period, losing $1 million per day in ticket revenues and neighboring merchants would lose $77 million per day. Michael Ferroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan, noted that the continued “stop” of the government could also have a negative impact on market sentiment. Due to the threat of dismissal and actual unemployment, the “stop” could increase labour market risks and weaken consumer confidence.
The White House Administration and Budget Office in a draft memorandum clearly stated that federal employees who were forced to leave during the government “stop” “have no right to claim additional pay.” This position completely subverted the U.S. practice of dealing with government “stop” over the past decades. Trump said that whether additional pay “depends on who (the object) is” and some employees “do not deserve to be taken care of.” Trump’s statement was immediately opposed by the Democrats, and House Democratic leader Hamky Jeffries said that every federal employee on leave has the right to receive additional pay.
Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a Republican, stressed on the 7th that some legal experts believe that there is no obligation to pay back wages. If this explanation is correct and effective, it will put more pressure on the Democratic Party to agree to the Republican Party's request to reopen the government.
CNN said on the 7th that during the government's "shutdown" period, the White House's attitude towards the mass layoffs of federal employees was also changing. At first, the Trump administration wanted to actively use the government's "shutdown" to lay off federal employees on a large scale. Trump himself even declared this an "unprecedented opportunity" on social media. However, the Republican Party has recently worried that such large-scale layoffs will bring political risks, and the White House has had to postpone the layoffs originally scheduled to be implemented in early October.
On the eve of the vote on the Senate allocation bill on the 6th, Trump said in the White House that he was willing to reach a “right deal” with the Democratic Party, adding that “we are communicating with the Democratic Party”. The U.S. media believes that the above statements indicate that the Republican party has released concession signals to a certain extent, but the Democratic side has responded negatively.
The US media stressed that this "mouth fight" between Trump and Schumer also exposed the key node of the dispute between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, whether to allocate funds first to end the "shutdown" of the federal government or to ensure the extension of medical insurance subsidies first. At present, the two parties in the United States are still deadlocked, and there is no clear path to reach a compromise.