NEW YORK: Hundreds of flights, including several private jet services, have been cancelled, millions of federal workers have not received their salaries, and millions of poor Americans are losing access to free or subsidised food.
That illustrates the crisis hitting the entire spectrum of US life because the Republican-Democrat standoff in the Senate over a resolution to temporarily fund the government is paralysing most government operations.
Only the most essential government operations are continuing. Many of those running them, like air traffic controllers, have not been paid. As a result, many are not coming to work. This led to the cancellation of about 1,000 flights on Saturday, after the government ordered a ten per cent reduction in flights at 40 major airports.
The Senate met on Saturday, the 39th day of the government shutdown, to break the impasse but failed again and is scheduled to meet again on Sunday for another unusual weekend sitting.
The regular budget, which should have been ready on October 1, marks the start of the US fiscal year. Instead, it is snaggled in party polarisation. A temporary measure known as a “continuing resolution” is needed to finance the government for now. That resolution has been held up in the Senate due to a procedural element known as the filibuster, which blocks a legislative measure from coming up for a vote. Sixty votes are required to break it, instead of a simple majority, as a way of putting the brakes on a party with a majority running roughshod.
The Republicans, with only 53 votes, are powerless to break the filibuster and pass their version of the temporary funding resolution.
US President Donald Trump has asked his party senators to end the filibuster rule, but they are reluctant, fearing that if the positions were reversed and the Democrats were in power, they would not have the tool to force compromises. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday, “The Democrats are cracking like dogs on the Shutdown because they are deathly afraid that I am making progress with the Republicans on TERMINATING THE FILIBUSTER”!
But Democrats were, in fact, standing firm Saturday night.
They have refused to end the filibuster unless the provisions for subsidies in Obamacare, as the health insurance programme enacted while former President Barack Obama was in office is called, that expire at the end of the year and cause hardship to those using it are extended. (IANS)
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