Historic US Government Shutdown Continues: Prospects for Resolution Remain Uncertain

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The United States government shutdown has become the longest in the country’s history — and it could drag on even longer.

On Wednesday local time, as the shutdown reached its 36th day, breaking the record set during US President Donald Trump’s first term in 2019, Trump blamed the Democrats for the closure during a breakfast meeting with Republican senators.

“I just got back from Japan … I talked about the kamikaze pilots. I think these guys [Democrats] are kamikaze,” he said, referring to the name given to Japanese pilots who flew suicide attacks during World War Two.

“They’ll take down the country if they have to.”

Amid ongoing efforts by Trump and Republican leaders to assign blame to the Democrats, a new NBC News poll reveals that 52% of American voters hold Trump and congressional Republicans responsible for the current deadlock, while 42% point fingers at the Democrats.

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US government shutdowns are not uncommon. In fact, this is the 15th shutdown since 1981. It usually happens when the bill to fund the federal government fails to pass through Congress.

“The political atmosphere and the chasm between the parties were already vast at the outset of the shutdown,” Rachel Snyderman, managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, explained to Reuters on Tuesday. “Despite ongoing bipartisan discussions, the divide remains substantial.”

In a promising development, The Washington Post reports that a bipartisan coalition of senators is actively crafting a potential resolution to bridge the partisan gap and bring the shutdown to a close.

“Democrats are prepared to meet with you face to face, anytime and anywhere,” they declared.

Republicans control both houses of Congress and hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. But for the bill pass the upper house, they need 60 votes.

Two Democrats, as well as an independent senator, have voted for the bill, but two Republicans have voted against it. That means leading Senate republicans needs five more votes from the Democrats to restart government operations.

Democrats say they will only provide votes to end the shutdown after their demands are met, and the Republicans insist they will only address healthcare demands once Democrats have voted to switch the lights back on in Washington.

And Trump has instructed Republican senators to end the shutdown by bypassing the Senate filibuster and reopen the government without Democratic votes.

In order to eliminate a filibuster, senators need to formally remove the rule or ban the filibuster for particular motions — an idea which Republican leader in the Senate, John Thune, and other Republicans have rejected.

Recently, there have been signs of hope for ending the shutdown, with The Washington Post reporting that a bipartisan group of senators is working on a potential agreement between the parties.

The newspaper has reported that 12 Senate Democrats are open to backing the proposal, a number more than enough to bring the government back.

On Wednesday, Chuck Schumer, leader of the Democrats in the Senate, and Hakeem Jeffries, the House of Representatives minority leader, wrote a letter to Trump, demanding “a bipartisan meeting of legislative leaders to end” the shutdown.

“Democrats stand ready to meet with you face to face, anytime and anyplace,” they said.

What has been the cost of the shutdown?

The shutdown could cost the US between an estimated US$7 billion ($10.7 billion) and US$14 billion ($21.5 billion), according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The New York Times has also estimated that about 700,000 federal workers have been working without pay since the shutdown started.

Additionally, approximately 42 million Americans’ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly referred to as food stamps, have been delayed since 1 October.

Around 3.2 million passengers have also faced flight delays and cancellations, as tens of thousands of flights have been delayed since the shutdown started.

— With additional reporting by the Reuters news agency and Agence France-Presse.