The US government shutdown became the longest in history on Wednesday, crossing the 36-day mark with no end in sight as the loggerheads lashed out at the resignation of Federal funding.
The closing of the previous 35-day record in December 2018 and January 2019 in the first term of Donald Trump to throw money to build a wall along the border of Mexico.
The standoff begins Tens of millions of Americans are expected to be unable to afford insurance once the credits expire at the end of 2025.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives in September passed the funding bill with a democrat vote in favor of Mike Johnson which was unprecedented. That shifted most of the legislative action to the Senate, where Johnal, the majority leader, conducted 14 votes on the law – all of which failed due to insufficient democratic support.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts the shutdown will cost the economy as much as $14BN in GDP, depending on how much longer it continues.
The chaotic milestones piled up as the weeks ticked by. About 700,000 Federal workers disappeared when the government shut down, while the same amount were told to keep working, with no paychecks allowed.
Donald Trump is missing a lot from the negotiations, holding a meeting with the top Democrats and Republicans in Congress on the eve of the closing that will fail to come to terms with the nomination. Recently, he called on Republican senators to end the Filibuster, which requires a majority of legislation to receive 60 votes to advance. Thune said his lawmakers did not support the change.
In mid-October, Trump announced that he would order US military personnel to be paid their regular salaries using Pentagon research — a decision that experts told the Guardian was likely illegal.
Food banks across the country are reporting increased demand from unpaid federal workers. It is expected to spread to a wider public, after the Department of Agriculture announced that it has run out of funding for the supplemental nutrition assistance program, which is also food stamps, as well as claiming half of the normal welfare.
Republicans accused Democrats of irresponsibly shutting down the government by refusing to return the bill, which would have kept the government open until a stoppage of funding measures.
But the minority party insisted that the responsibility for the compromise lies with the Republicans, who control the houses of Congress, but need at least eight democratic votes to get the Senate. Only three Democrats voted for the current funding bill in the upper chamber, while Rand Paul, a Republican Senator, voted against it.
Democrats also said the GOP should address rising premiums for plans under the ACA, which are expected to jump an average of 26% if the tax credits are allowed to expire Family Family Foatic Foundation. Open enrollment for the plans began in early November.