As of Saturday, January 12, the ongoing partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government is now the longest in history, affecting thousands of federal workers who have not received their pay since the closure began. While politicians strive to find a solution to alleviate the federal shutdown’s paralyzing effects, it is feared that the country may have to deal with this problem for several months more.
Fed Workers Running Without Salaries For a Record Stretch of 22 Days
Wage statements are usually received by the federal workers every Friday. However, these statements still got no actual pay coming with them for the past week. Around 800,000 fed workers are left without paychecks due to the government shutdown, but the inconvenience due to the shutdown is already starting to affect non-government workers as well.
The U.S. federal government shutdown is now on its 22nd day, which is considered very alarming as the closure did not last this long before. This means that fed workers have been required to fulfill their duties in the government without getting compensated for 22 straight days now. With this matter, the House and Senate have come into a vote that the fed workers should get their back pay the moment the federal government resumes operation.
What Caused the 2018-2019 U.S. Federal Government Shutdown?
Government closure is not new in the United States. This happens when the Congress is not able to pass the required number of appropriation bills and resolutions that will allot funds for many federal government functions. Fed shutdown can also happen when the president declines to sign the same appropriation bills and resolutions, thus leaving certain federal agencies without budget.
A total of 12 appropriation bills are expected to be passed for the current fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2018. Only five appropriation bills were made on time, and short-term extensions are needed for the Congress to pass 7 more bills before time runs out. Unfortunately, President Trump made himself clear recently that he will only allow one more extension to the Congress if the House will include his $5.7-billion border wall. The wall aims to prevent infiltration of refugees in the Mexican border, an issue that sparked heated debate not only among politicians but also among the ordinary citizens of the United States.
It is feared that the federal government shutdown will take many more months until a political solution is applied. Unfortunately, it appears that the problem could stay as much as a year as President Trump sees the shutdown as an opportunity to pressure the Congress into helping him in building the wall.
The social media is now filled with different people giving their reaction to the U.S. federal government shutdown. Celebrities have also used their social media accounts such as Twitter and Instagram to express their opinion. Their popularity allows them to have their message reaching more people. For the ordinary folks, they can purchase tools such as echte volgers kopen to get a bigger audience online.
It is clear that President Trump’s insistent demand of building his wall and the continued opposition of several entities to this move have shaken the country, especially now that the federal government was shut down due to this conflict. The current fed closure is just an example of how the people are demoralized because of politics.