(AFP) – US senators began a long weekend Friday that guarantees the government shutdown lasting at least 14 days, with both sides more entrenched than ever and the military facing an unprecedented threat to its pay. Republicans and Democrats have been getting into angry confrontations in the corridors of Congress, with frustration mounting as the crisis over funding the government hits public services harder each day.
Pressure is increasing on Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the shuttered lower chamber of Congress back in session to hold an emergency vote on at least providing military pay. But Johnson is sticking to his guns, telling reporters Friday that “we will come back here and get back to legislative session as soon as the Senate Democrats turn the lights back on.” Some 1.3 million active-duty service military personnel are set to miss their pay due next Wednesday — something that has not happened in any of the funding shutdowns through modern history.
And with the Senate out until Tuesday next week, there’s little hope for the civilian federal workforce, whose pay has already been hit. “We’re not in a good mood here in the Capitol — it’s a somber day. Today marks the first day federal workers across America will receive a partial paycheck,” Johnson said. “Thanks to Democrats’ obstruction to the system here, this is the last paycheck that 700,000 federal workers will see until Washington Democrats decide to do their job and reopen the government.”
Rising tensions between the two parties have been on full display this week, with Johnson and Democratic senators clashing over the shutdown in front of the gathered press. There was a fiery exchange after a House Democratic leadership press conference when Republican Congressman Mike Lawler needled House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries over his role in the shutdown. Jeffries told Lawler to “keep your mouth shut” as the two traded barbs and later called the Republican a “malignant clown.”
Nonessential government work stopped after the September 30 funding deadline, with Senate Democrats repeatedly blocking a Republican resolution to reopen federal agencies. The sticking point has been a refusal by Republicans to include language in the bill to address expiring subsidies that make health insurance affordable for 24 million Americans.
With a prolonged shutdown looking more likely each day, members of Congress have been looking to Republican President Donald Trump to step in and break the standoff. Trump has been largely tuned out, with his focus on the Gaza ceasefire deal and sending federal troops to bolster his mass deportation drive in Democratic-led cities such as Chicago and Portland.
“Donald Trump can find the time to play golf, but he can’t be bothered negotiating a bipartisan agreement to reopen the government… and House Republicans remain on vacation for three weeks,” Jeffries told a news conference. “The American people are sick and tired of the chaos, crisis, and confusion that has been visited upon the country by Donald Trump and Republican complete control of Congress.”
– Frankie TAGGART
© 2024 AFP
