The Senate again rejected the financing law and the closure was further extended, leaving the State without legal funds to operate.
The partial closure of United States Federal Government was extended to a third week after the Senate once again reject the financing law that would have put an end to the blockade. The proposal was rejected with 50 votes in favor and 43 againstbelow the 60 necessary to approve the regulations.
Both Republican legislators assured that there is no solution in sight and an even more tense stage will soon arrive: public officials will soon face the first non-payment of their salaries before the inability of the Senate to deactivate the current blockade.
In dialogue with the press, the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, John Thunesaid that the upper house will give the debate again and take another vote on Wednesday, 22 days after the shutdown which began last October 1 and which this Wednesday will become the second longest in US history, surpassing that of 1995-1996 during the presidency of Bill Clinton. He Senate He has already tried eleven times this year to approve provisional budgets but has not yet been successful.
Thune assured that both he and the president, donald trumpare willing to hold talks with Democratic senators to end the blockadeand addressed directly the leader of the Democratic minority in the Upper House, Chuck Schumer.
For its part, Schumer warned: “Our country is facing a health catastrophe and Republicans will spend this week on vacation or holding rallies in the White House. Government Employees Must Work for Free, But House Republicans Get Paid Without Working”.
The focus of the conflict over the financing law in the US
Democrats demand the inclusion of a extension of Obamacare subsidies. For their part, Republicans, who clarified that they will not negotiate until the closure is ended, oppose this measure by arguing that the program benefits undocumented people.
Thune blamed Democrats for the situation: “Democrats are solely responsible for the ObamaCare tax credit chasm, and yet, They are trying to blame this disaster on the Republicans while at the same time asking them to bail them outAccording to Thune, the opposition tried turning the problems of ObamaCare and the expired subsidies into “the crisis of the Republicans.”
For his part, the Democratic minority leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, targeted the Republicans and accused them of preferring closure “rather than offering affordable health care and extending tax credits.”
He government shutdown It occurs when Congress fails to approve the federal budget or a temporary spending law, leaving the state without legal funds to operate. In practice, this requires partially close federal agencies already send thousands of public employees home without paywhile others continue working without pay until a new law is passed.
Source: Ambito
