🔗 Share this article

The US government shutdown has entered its thirty-sixth day, making it the most prolonged period of federal shutdown in the nation's records.

This shutdown, which began on October 1st, was triggered by lawmakers' failure to agree on a new funding deal. It has left government workers without paychecks and millions of Americans lacking essential services.

Political parties have been deadlocked for weeks with no signs of compromise - though some glimmers of hope are beginning to show.

"My feeling is, based on my intuition of how these things operate, I think we're getting close to an off-ramp here," the Senate's top Republican commented.

The previous closure milestone occurred during Donald Trump's first term and continued for thirty-five days before it ended in the year 2019.

Growing Consequences on Citizens

In the weeks following the shutdown's start, the consequences on everyday Americans have worsened.

Thousands of federal workers have already missed paychecks, and there are increasing concerns about impacts to air travel across the US as flight controllers and airport staff continue working unpaid.

"Should we reach a week from today, Democrats widespread disruption," the Transportation Secretary stated. "You will see mass flight delays. You'll see mass cancellations, and we might need to shut down sections of the airspace, since we cannot properly operate as we lack sufficient air traffic control staff."

Food Assistance Situation

The effects have also been felt by low-income Americans who depend on federal assistance programs.

Approximately 12.5% of Americans are reliant upon nutrition benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but just part of these benefits is being distributed currently due to lapsed funding.

The former president's team had - at first - announced no Snap funds would be distributed in the month of November but a US court ordered that emergency resources be used to give people partial benefits.

"[Snap benefits] will be provided only when the Radical Left Democrats reopen government, something they can readily accomplish, and not before," the former president wrote on his preferred platform.

Legislative Deadlock

Members of the American Senate have considered the same temporary budget measure to restart federal operations repeatedly with no luck. Attempts were made once more recently to without success.

The legislation was approved by the House of Representatives in September.

The opposition party have so far declined to back the short-term measure on government funding except if the majority party agreed to extend healthcare subsidies for low-income Americans. Republicans have opposed this, accusing Democrats of using government operations as leverage over separate political objectives.

"Without observing any advancement or indications of that by at least the week's midpoint, it becomes difficult to imagine completing anything by the week's conclusion," the senior Republican informed journalists. "In my view that would be the objective here, which is attempting and get something that we could send back to the House that would open up the federal operations."

In recent days, there have been signs that some moderate Democrats and Republicans are keen to discuss and find a deal ahead of Thanksgiving on 27 November.

• Understanding the US Government Shutdown: Reasons and Results
• SNAP Benefits: When Will Assistance Continue During the Federal Closure?
• Five Ways the Federal Closure is Affecting Americans - And How Conditions Could Deteriorate