"Shutdown" paralyzes US government

Since midnight, the US has a budget freeze. The Senate could not agree on a transitional budget. Now thousands of civil servants are being sent on forced leave and authorities closed.

On the anniversary of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, his government has come to a standstill. The federal government reached its debt ceiling at midnight on Friday, which resulted in an automatic spending ban, the so-called "shutdown". The US Senate had literally tried to pass a transitional bill right up to the last minute to stop the deadlock. The efforts failed, however. Not enough Democrats jumped to the Republican majority to reach the required 60 out of a total of 100 votes.

The "shutdown" means that the federal government can only make the most necessary expenses. Tens of thousands of government employees have to stay at home and are at least temporarily not paid while key areas in ministries and security agencies will continue to work. But many other government employees can no longer be paid and have to stay at home. For example, applications for passports will no longer be processed, and delays may occur at airports because certain sectors lack government-funded employees. Even America's soldiers could not receive pay from February 1st.

President Donald Trump temporarily canceled his planned trip to Florida. He wanted to celebrate the anniversary of his inauguration to the office a year ago. His trip to Davos next week has become questionable.
However, the efforts continued during the night to reach an agreement, although possibly only for a few days. The White House criticized the Democrats who were responsible for the "shutdown" during the night. "They are putting party politics on national security," said government spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. "So behave losers who want to prevent everything, not parliamentarians."

Both sides accused each other of being responsible for the "shutdown" during the night. "This is a Trump shutdown," said Senate Democrat leader Charles Schumer. He symbolized the chaos that sparked President Donald Trump since taking the office one year ago. "Instead of uniting us, he has brought us apart," said Schumer. Trump twice refused to support a vote-ready, bipartisan proposal.

The current budget dispute revolves around, among other things, the level of military spending. In addition, immigration issues play a central role. The Democrats do not want to agree to a budget compromise without pledges to protect some 700,000 immigrants who entered the country illegally. Meanwhile, Trump demands funding for his prestige project of a border wall to Mexico. "If there is no wall, there is no deal," he had tweeted on Thursday.

Recently, in 2013, the budget dispute between Democrats and Republicans led to the government's "shutdown". He lasted 16 days.

Source: dpa, AFP

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