“Shutdown”: 3.5 million American government employees threatened to work without pay

The clock is ticking. The White House estimates 3.5 million federal workers will be without pay by midnight as the likelihood of reaching a budget deal with the Republican-dominated House of Representatives this Saturday appears unlikely.

Absent a last-minute bipartisan agreement, the famous shutdown will occur, and federal agencies will be forced to cut most of their activities and force many employees to work without pay. According to the White House Office of Management and Budget, 2 million military personnel will be affected, as well as 1.5 million federal civilian employees. Of those 3.5 million federal government employees, only 820,000 will be furloughed. The rest, mostly law enforcement officers, border guards, prison guards and air traffic controllers, are required to remain at their posts.

Simply shutting down numerous services would also result in the suspension of the food assistance program that supports more than 7 million struggling mothers and their children in the country. Likewise, small business relief schemes could no longer function. It would also prevent the federal government from paying off $31,000 billion in debt.

“It’s only a failure if you give up”

On Friday evening, Republicans in the US House of Representatives rejected by a vote of 232 to 198 a bill that would extend government funding for 30 days, while they reached an agreement with the White House and the Senate. The bill, sponsored by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, proposed resuming construction of an anti-immigrant wall on the Mexican border and taking other measures to reduce immigration – Republican priorities that are unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate. 21 radical Republicans in the House of Representatives sided with Democrats to win the election.

The problem: This rejected text leaves Republicans without a clear strategy. And McCarthy has no other offer. After the vote, he said the House could still pass the funding extension without the conservative amendments that Democrats rejected. “It will only fail if you give up,” he told the press. But he refused to say more. His position is precarious: Most right-wing conservatives, whom Biden has called extremists, have threatened to topple him if he relies on Democratic votes.

The closure, if it occurs at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, would be the fourth in a decade and just four months after a similar impasse brought Washington to the brink of default on its debt. Joe Biden reached a last-minute agreement with McCarthy. The repeated brinksmanship has raised concerns on Wall Street, where ratings agency Moody’s warned it could harm US creditworthiness.