(Washington) The United States will remain in a situation of budgetary paralysis at least until next week after the failure of a vote in the Senate on a fourth budget proposal presented by the Republicans of Donald Trump on Friday.
Due to the blocking at the Congress, the United States has been in a situation of “Shutdown” since Wednesday. Federal administrations are stopped and several hundred thousand civil servants, with functions considered to be “non-session”, are unemployed. Tourist sites such as the Washington Monument in the Federal Capital are closed while public services users face disturbances.
Another consequence of this situation: the publication of the monthly employment report in September did not take place on Friday, which deprives the first world economy of a major thermometer.
Senate leaders said they did not intend to sit over the weekend and many analysts believe that the crisis should last.
“It is possible that this” Shutdown “continues for weeks, and not only a few days,” said Andrew Koneschusky, former spokesperson for Senator Chuck Schumer, the chief of the Democrat minority in the Senate.
“For the moment, the two parties camp in their positions and there is a very little question of compromise. Things can always evolve (…) But for the time being, neither of the two camps seems ready to give in, “he added.
Unpopular situation
Republicans offer a simple extension of the current budget until the end of November, when Democrats require the extension of public health insurance programs for the most disadvantaged, denouncing clear cuts in health expenses decided by the Trump administration.
“This madness must end,” said White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt on Friday. “President Trump and the Republicans call for Democrats to reopen the administration immediately on behalf of the American public.”
The “Shutdowns” are very unpopular in the United States and the presidential camp hopes that a sufficient number of Democratic senators will eventually vote in favor of its text.
Photo J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press
The republican chief in the Senate, John Thune, and the president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson
“We hope that during the weekend, they will have the opportunity to think,” said the Republican leader of the Senate John Thune.
Majority in the Senate, the Republicans must convince eight democrats to cross the bar of 60 votes necessary for the adoption of the budget.
Only three had joined them during the last votes.
Each camp strives while waiting to reject the responsibility of blocking on the other: the White House accuses the Democrats of taking the government “hostage” to obtain free medical care for immigrants, a lie according to the opposition, which denounces the refusal of the Republicans to lower the cost of health.
A survey published Thursday by the Washington Post shows that, out of 1000 Americans interviewed, 47 % attribute the responsibility of the “Shutdown” to Donald Trump and the Republicans, and 30 % point the role of the Democrats.
The president threatened to take advantage of the situation to “get rid” of democratic agencies, described as “political scam”.
The latest “Shutdown” in the United States occurred from December 2018 to January 2019, during the republican’s first mandate at the White House. He had lasted 35 days, a record.
