The federal government is officially shut down as of Wednesday (Oct. 1) morning at 12:01 a.m. ET after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach a vote on appropriations to finance the daily operation of America’s administrative entity.
According to ABC News, a Democrat-led healthcare subsidies bill aimed at extending Obamacare to more Americans and reversing the cuts made to Medicaid failed to reach the number of passing votes. Republicans put forth a stopgap bill to continue funding the government for seven more weeks but that failed as a political consequence. So now, there is no money to pay thousands of employees who are essential to many aspects of running the country.
Says Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:
“We want to sit down and negotiate, but the Republicans can’t do it in their partisan way, where they just say it’s our way or the highway,” Schumer said at a news conference following the Senate vote on Tuesday night.
Trump presided over the longest government shutdown in U.S. history during his first term and fears are arising that this latest interruption could eclipse it. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MSNBC with Lawrence O’Donnell to speak out against Republicans for allowing this latest shutdown. In response, Donald Trump, in all his adolescent bigotry, posted the following AI-generated video to his various social media accounts.
For his part, Jeffries had some spicy talk for the orange man in reaction to Trump’s mocking clip.
Here’s What The Government Shutdown Means For You
While the government shutdown isn’t a good thing, all is not lost. Many federal services will still be operating even if they are not at 100%
According to Politico, 33,500 FAA employees will remain on the job, however, that’s only 75% of the agency’s current staff. The other quarter of employees are expected to be furloughed. The training and hiring of new air traffic controllers will continue.
The IRS will not furlough any employees, at least for five business days, thanks (or no thanks, depending on your tax status) to a special fund allotted by Democrats to avoid employees missing paychecks.
The Department of Health and Human Services will furlough 40% of its employees, but Medicare and Medicaid support staff will continue to work.
The Department of Veterans Affairs will continue to pay out, and all medical services will still be available.
BOSSIP will continue to update readers on changes in government operations should they occur. Hopefully, both sides of the aisle can reach an agreement so that they can get back to doing the people’s work.
