Trump signs end to longest budgetary paralysis in history

(Washington) Donald Trump on Wednesday signed into law the law ending the longest budgetary paralysis in the history of the United States. He took the opportunity to trash the Democratic opposition while once again praising his economic policy.

“We will never give in to blackmail,” said the American president, signing the text adopted shortly before by the American Congress, after 43 days of blockage which disrupted several sections of the American economy.

Seeking to emerge victorious from this interminable standoff, he attacked the “extremists of the other party (the Democrats)”, accusing them of having shut down the government for “purely political reasons”.

Donald Trump said: “The country has never been better off”, while polls show growing dissatisfaction among Americans with the economy.

After its adoption by the Senate on Monday, the House of Representatives approved the budget bill with 222 votes in favor and 209 against. Only six elected Democrats joined the presidential majority, while two Republicans expressed their disagreement.

“Obamacare”

After more than 40 days of budget impasse, a handful of Democratic senators finally surrendered on Monday by approving with their Republican colleagues a new bill, which extends the previous budget until the end of January.

The text, however, leaves unclear the extension of subsidies for “Obamacare”, health insurance intended for households with modest incomes, to the great dismay of the base and many elected Democrats.

Donald Trump has made no secret of his intentions, describing this system as a “disaster” and a “nightmare” that should be removed.

He ruled that instead of subsidizing a collective system, funding should be redistributed “directly” to Americans so that they can choose their health insurance individually.

Among the only concessions to the opposition, the text provides for the reinstatement of civil servants dismissed since the start of the shutdown.

It also includes funds for the SNAP food assistance program until September, thus preventing this aid, which benefits more than 42 million Americans, from being frozen in the event of another budgetary paralysis at the end of January, as was the case during the current blockage.

Due to the rules of political consensus in the Senate, which the American president once again called on Wednesday to abandon, eight votes from the opposition were necessary to adopt the text. And the eight in question have attracted the wrath of many members of the Democratic camp, who denounce meager concessions and false Republican promises.

California Governor Gavin Newsom lamented that X was a “surrender.”

Many Democrats also wondered why these senators gave in just days after their party’s large victories in important elections across the country, which they said validated their strategy in Congress.

“Not too late”

Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries again called on Republicans Wednesday evening to keep their promise to hold a vote soon on “Obamacare.”

“We believe that working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, and everyday Americans deserve the same level of certainty that Republicans always provide to the rich, the wealthy, and the long-armed donors,” he said in a speech from the chamber.

“It is not too late” to extend these subsidies, added the Democratic tenor.

The question of these subsidies is at the heart of the dispute which led to the “shutdown”. Without their extension, health insurance costs are expected to more than double in 2026 for 24 million Americans who use “Obamacare,” according to KFF, a think tank specializing in health issues.

Since 1^er October, more than a million civil servants were not paid. The payment of some aid has been severely disrupted, and tens of thousands of flights have been canceled in recent days due to shortages of air traffic controllers, as some had chosen to call in sick rather than work without pay.