The United States government shutdown has entered its 36th day, breaking the record as the longest ever in the nation’s history and disrupting the lives of millions of Americans.
Federal programme cuts affecting food assistance, among other critical aspects of everyday life, flight delays, and federal workers nationwide forced to work without pay, were set to continue with no end in sight on Wednesday.
Federal agencies have been grinding to a halt since Congress failed to approve funding past September 30, and the pain has been mounting as welfare programmes hang in limbo.
US President Donald Trump, whose first term at the White House set the previous government shutdown record, is set to meet early on Wednesday for breakfast with Republican senators. But no talks have been scheduled with the Democrats.
Trump has refused to negotiate with Democrats over their demands to salvage expiring health insurance subsidies until they agree to reopen the government, claiming they are “extorting” him.
Hours before the shutdown record toppled at midnight on Tuesday, the Trump administration sounded the alarm over turmoil at airports nationwide if the crisis drags beyond a sixth week, with worsening staff shortages snarling airports and closing down sections of airspace.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted there could be chaos in the skies next week if air traffic controllers miss another paycheque.
Air travel on the busiest US holiday, Thanksgiving, on November 27 is expected to set a new record this year, the American Automobile Association projected, with 5.8 million people set to fly domestically.
More than 60,000 air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration officers are working without pay, and the White House has warned that increased absenteeism could mean chaos at check-in lines.
Airport workers calling in sick rather than working without pay – leading to significant delays – was a major factor in Trump bringing an end to the 2019 shutdown, which began over his demands for funds to build a US-Mexico border wall.
However, Democrats and Republicans remain unwavering over the main sticking point in the current stoppage – healthcare spending.
Democrats say they will provide votes to end the funding lapse only after a deal has been struck to make healthcare affordable for millions of Americans.
While Republicans insist they will address healthcare only when Democrats have voted to switch the lights back on in Washington, DC.
While both sides’ leadership have shown little appetite for compromise, there have been signs of life on the back benches, with a handful of moderate Democrats working to find an escape hatch.
A separate bipartisan group of four centrist House members unveiled a compromise framework on Monday for lowering health insurance costs.
Democrats believe that millions of Americans seeing skyrocketing premiums as they enrol into health insurance programmes for next year will pressure Republicans into seeking a compromise.
Trump has sought to apply pressure to force Democrats to cave by threatening mass layoffs of federal workers and using the shutdown to target progressive priorities.
On Tuesday, he repeated his threat to cut off a vital aid programme that helps 42 million Americans pay for groceries for the first time in its more than 60-year history, even though the move was blocked by two courts.
The White House later clarified, however, that it was “fully complying” with its legal obligations and was working to get partial SNAP payments “out the door as much as we can and as quickly as we can”.
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