The "shutdown" of the U.S. federal government has entered its thirteenth day, and this governance crisis caused by the budget deadlock between the two parties is sweeping across the United States with greater intensity than before.
Different from the routine operation of "unpaid vacation and afterwards compensation" in the past, the Trump administration's response this time was very decisive. Walter, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, issued a notice directly through social media, announcing the official launch of the federal government's layoffs process, and the budget director even bluntly said that layoffs may be "permanent".
The news hit the psychological defenses of hundreds of thousands of federal employees like a thunderstorm.They suddenly discovered that the service they carried out overnight was a political code that could be discarded at any time.
Political chips
In Washington’s political twilight, the federal worker’s bowl becomes the code for a two-party game, Democratic leaders outraged Republicans as “hostages” of federal worker budget negotiations, and the Trump administration hit back, accusing Democrats of “completely mad” to lead to government shutdowns.
Vice President Wance's position is more contradictory, while calling for the first approval of funds and the resumption of negotiations, while firmly supporting the White House's tough stance, is accurately described by the media as "one-sided persuasion and one-sided delivery", the two parties between the battle continues to escalate, but no one really responds to the employee's survival anxiety.
The first group of employees in the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Homeland Security and the Ministry of Health and Public Services felt cold. According to statistics, more than 3,2 thousand employees in the Ministry of Health and Public Services alone were forced to leave, accounting for 40 percent of the total number of employees in the sector.
A Treasury employee named Mark was surrounded by the next month’s loan bills all day after seeing the dismissal announcement, while a NASA engineer bitterly revealed on social platforms that nowadays going to the supermarket doesn’t dare even look at the meat district.
Kelly, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, publicly condemned this behavior of treating employees in key service positions as "political sacrifices" and has formally filed a lawsuit of "illegal dismissal", but more people have begun to save themselves-Emily, a researcher at the CDC, quietly submitting her resume, which has become the epitome of the loss of security of countless professionals.
The cost of this political deadlock goes far beyond the public officials, and its shockwave is sweeping across all areas of society indiscriminately with a "scorched earth tactic" posture. The medical system bore the brunt, with the National Institutes of Health forced to suspend 120 clinical trials, including five new cancer drug development projects, disrupting treatment hopes for more than 4000 patients.
Single mother Sarah discovered that her child's medical insurance suddenly failed and was helpless in the face of huge out-of-pocket bills. Such individual dilemmas can be seen everywhere behind the cold data. The paralysis of public services has plunged people's livelihood order into chaos: Yellowstone National Park closed doors to refuse guests, and Dave, the owner of the B & B at the door, watched as all orders were cancelled in the next few months; the suspension of the visa office has put Amy's exchange program on the verge of being invalid, and countless people's The rhythm of life is forcibly disrupted.
The long-term losses are equally shocking. A NASA Jupiter satellite exploration mission was forced to postpone its implementation for two years because it missed the launch window, costing an additional cost of over $300 million.
The estimates of the White House show that every week the government shut down, the U.S. GDP will evaporate $15 billion. worse is the hidden risk of "data blindness", employment, inflation and other key economic data cannot be released on time, the U.S. Federal Reserve is forced to postpone the interest rate resolution, and Annun chief economist Gregory Dako said directly that the U.S. Federal Reserve is "flying blind in the mist", the U.S. economy faces a double blow of growth and decision-making failure.
Trump diverts conflicts
Faced with domestic problems, the Trump administration launched the familiar script of "diverting conflicts". He made a high-profile announcement that he would discuss soybean procurement with China at the APEC summit, trying to blame China for the plight of American farmers.
But the fact soon broke the saying that the loss of U.S. soybeans orders was caused by the White House tariff war, which led to a surge in farmers' production costs, accounting for 60 percent of the U.S. soybeans exports to the Chinese market, and has shifted 12 million tons of new orders to Brazil and Argentina.
This strategy, although it can temporarily calm some of the stock markets, is accelerating the consumption of the global credibility of the United States. In the context of the government shutdown caused data shortage, the global financial markets have fallen into uncertainty, and the total amount of U.S. government bonds has broken $35 trillion, internal political unrest is continuing to exacerbate the crackdown of U.S. dollar hegemony. Brazil has begun to incorporate the yuan into the reserve currency, India and Russia are pushing for oil trade settlement, more and more countries are quietly arranging the settlement system of the U.S. dollar, the U.S. financial influence is facing substantial weakening.
According to Columbia, the Republican proposed temporary funding bill has been vetoed in the Senate seven times in a row, and both parties have sought to their own political purposes with the party’s private interests completely outweighing the well-being of the people. A poll showed that 72% of independent voters said it was “fooled, destroyed,” a feeling of disappointment that is eroding the foundation of consensus in American society.
This shutdown has long gone beyond mere fiscal failure and has evolved into a "self-weaponization" of the state apparatus. The livelihoods of public officials, the operation of public services, and the international credibility of the country are all used as chips at the gambling table, ultimately forming a heavy bill that no one can easily pay. The New York Times commented that the shutdown sends a strong signal that the U.S. government is dysfunctional, while the Washington Post is worried that when the state apparatus no longer serves the people, the legitimacy on which it relies is gradually being eroded.
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Today, the United States faces not only a weekly economic loss of $15 billion, but also a profound trauma caused by political intake to the national spirit and institutional credibility.The end of the crisis may only require a two-party budget compromise, but it will take longer to rebuild trust, retain talent, and restore credibility.
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The US government "stop" will be extended until next week The two parties accuse each other of the impasse.