The United States was rushing headlong, Friday, September 29, towards a paralysis of the federal state, plunging the country into logistical chaos and a political battle, with the president, Joe Biden, and the Republicans taking turns blaming each other .
Unless there is a last minute agreement, which is now almost impossible, the world’s largest economy is expected to operate slowly from Sunday: a million and a half civil servants will be deprived of their salaries, air traffic will be disrupted, while visitors to national parks will find their doors closed.
“There is still a chance” that the United States will escape it, however, wanted to believe the director of the Office of Budget Management at the White House, Shalanda Young, on Friday. “I remain optimistic, because we have a day and a half” for Democratic and Republican elected officials in Congress to find an agreement, she said during the daily White House press briefing.
Neither chamber of Congress – neither the Senate, controlled by the Democrats, nor the House of Representatives, controlled by the Republicans – has yet managed to adopt a finance law to extend the federal state budget , which expires on September 30, at midnight.
Aid to Ukraine, the crux of the blockage
Almost a year before the presidential election, both camps blame each other for this situation, which is very unpopular with Americans. For the president, Democrat Joe Biden, there is no doubt: the ball is in the court of the Republicans in the House of Representatives. It is in fact in this chamber that the crux of the blockage lies: discussions are failing on aid to Ukraine, which a handful of Trumpist Republican elected officials categorically refuse to attach to any finance law.
These lieutenants of Donald Trump, who have disproportionate power due to the very slim majority of Republicans in the House, had already pushed the United States to the brink of the political-financial precipice four months ago on the issue of recovery. of the debt ceiling. They received orders from the former president, who could face Joe Biden in 2024, to “paralyze” the federal state, unless they win their case on “all” the budget issues under debate.
It was already under the presidency of Donald Trump that the United States went through its longest shutdown, in the winter of 2018-2019. According to several estimates, the GDP of the United States was then cut by more than 3 billion dollars.
With less than forty hours now until the deadline, the country is preparing for this new closure of services. Officials were notified Thursday of the impending paralysis. They will have to wait until the end of the shutdown to receive their salary. Some, considered “essential workers”, will however be requisitioned, the others will be prohibited from accessing their files and their electronic mail. The military will not be paid either.
Most US national parks, such as Yosemite and Yellowstone, will close. Air traffic is also expected to be very disrupted. And some recipients of food aid could be temporarily denied it.
In addition to the risk weighing on aid to Ukraine, a spokesperson for the State Department also cited those concerning funds allocated to “global humanitarian needs”, to aid for the migration crisis, or to fights “against bad actors, particularly in Africa,” warning that it “endangers U.S. national security and [causes] ground to China and Russia.”
