Republicans and Democrats are at a stalemate
The US government is set to shut down following the Congress’ failure to pass stopgap funding bills, according to CNBC.
Both the Republicans and Democrats have not reached an agreement towards a funding deal, with one of the points of conflict being the latter wanting to include the extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits within any stopgap funding bill.
With the beginning of a new fiscal year for the federal government on Oct. 1, the lack of an agreement over a short-term funding bill will lead to a shut down. The bill was introduced by the Republicans and determined the funding of government operations until November 21. The failure to pass legislation will temporarily stop certain US government services while also either putting the wages of government employees on hold or ending them for good, according to Al Jazeera.
As part of the law, government shut down will entail agencies to furlough their “non-excepted” employees. Excepted employees are US federal service workers who protect life and property. Although they will continue their jobs in the middle of a shut down, they will not receive their payments. Only when operations resume will furloughed employees receive their backdated pay.
Should the shutdown be set in motion, about 900,000 federal workers will be laid off. Government work which will continue during the shutdown include members of the armed forces, FBI, CIA, air traffic controllers, Social Security, Medicare, and the US Postal Service.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought has instructed the heads of executive departments and agencies to “execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.”
Both the Republicans and Democrats have moved to blame the other party regarding the outcome. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries released a statement criticizing Donald Trump along with the Republicans because they “do not want to protect the healthcare of the American people.”
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Democrats needed to “come to their senses here and do the right thing.”
The Affordable Care Act tax credits lower the cost of health insurance premiums which were paid by Americans who buy coverage on ACA exchanged. However, these credits were due to expire by the end of the year.
The last time the US government saw a shut down was in December 2018, which lasted for 35 days.
