The shutdown of the U.S. government will continue until Christmas, as the budget for the next fiscal year was not adopted.
Today, December 22, during the Saturday session, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are unable to make a deal to get out of this impasse, so it was decided move the meeting to Thursday, December 27.
However, President Donald trump, withdrew from his trip to Florida will remain in Washington for the entire holiday period. At the moment in the Capitol negotiations with the participation of Vice-President Mike Pence and the minority leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer.
The Democrat Congress refused to comply with the requirements of the President to allocate $5.7 billion to begin construction of the promised wall at the border of USA and Mexico. Schumer stressed that they would never agree to such conditions «neither today, nor next week, nor next year».
«So, Mr. President, if you want to open the government, you should simply withdraw from the walls, – said the leader of the Democrats. The Senate is not interested in, to fool American taxpayers for inappropriate, inefficient and wasteful policies.»
What is a shutdown?
Shutting down the government envisages that about 380 thousand public servants will be forced to take temporary unpaid leave. Meanwhile, 420 thousand employees who work for «the protection of life and property» will continue to work without salary.
In practice, this means that:
- Officers of customs and border control will continue to work without receiving their salary. Airports will not stop the work.
- About 80% of national parks staff sent home, and the parks themselves can be closed, although some will remain open with a limited staff and amenities.
- About 90% of the employees of the housing Department go on an unpaid leave, which may result in a delay in processing the loan and permitting process.
- Baboutmost of the Tax service (IRS) will be sent on unpaid leave, including those who assist taxpayers with queries.
- The office of the food and drug administration will suspend routine check, but «will continue vital activities».
- The remaining 75% of agencies fully funded until September 2019, so the departments of defense, labor and education will not suffer.
