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Rabat – US Congress is set to break the country’s record for longest government shutdown in history tomorrow.
Today it hits the 35-day mark. The longest government shutdown to date was 35 days in 2018-2019 during US President Donald Trump’s first term.
The federal shutdown is the result of a fiscal stalemate between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
Republicans essentially sought to extend a funding bill, but Democrats refused to agree if Affordable Care Act funds were not included in the extension.
Everyday Americans are beginning to take the brunt of the shutdown: many federal workers — law enforcement, military and emergency medical personnel, and air traffic controllers, to name a few — are under the “essential worker” category and made to work without pay or are on unpaid leave.
Several federal agencies experienced their first missed-paycheck on October 24.
Nearly 1.32 million military personnel were set to miss their paychecks in mid-October, although an anonymous donor reportedly provided $130 million to cover their next paychecks. The donor allegedly works for the Pentagon, which if true, would bring about ethics concerns.
This came alongside a reallocation of $8 million from the Trump administration to cover military paychecks.
Perhaps the most concerning consequence of the shutdown is the effect on the 40 million low-income Americans who rely on food aid — known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
A total of $8 billion needed for SNAP payments were expected to be withheld at the beginning of the month, but federal judges pressured Trump to make the payments happen.
The order will end up giving SNAP users only half their typical aid per month.
Congress has not met for legislation in the past six weeks, and both Democrats and Republicans are expecting the other to bend.
The shutdown standoff continues to act as a means of leverage for Democrats, and an opportunity for the Trump administration to gut Washington
