Is the closure of the US federal government a great social and economic loss?

On the evening of Washington 19 10/9, the Senate failed to pass the provisional appropriation bill, and the federal government departments officially closed at 0: 00 on October 20, 65438. The Senate needs 60 votes to pass a similar bill, but at present the Republican Party only holds 5 1 seat.

The US federal budget for 20 16-20 17 expired in June last year. The two parties failed to reach an agreement on the budget for the new fiscal year and only agreed to raise the debt ceiling for three months. After that, Congress passed the short-term budget twice in June last year, and the last day of the short-term budget was June 19.

According to American law, the government budget must be initiated by the House of Representatives, approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives, and signed by the President. If Congress fails to approve the budget, the federal government will close some institutions.

"Appropriation" has once again become a tool for political wrestling between the two parties. This time, Democrats opposed the provisional appropriation bill and even partially closed the federal government agencies, mainly to force the White House and Republicans to make concessions on issues such as "Deferred Repatriation of Childhood Arrivals" (DACA) and children's health care programs. And * * * and Republicans have a tough attitude on these issues, and US President Trump has also constantly released "swearing words" on immigration issues.

When the federal government closed, the two parties blamed each other. US President Trump said that the closure of the federal government is "Schumer's closure", and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer should bear the main responsibility. Some Republicans also believe that "delaying the repatriation of children arriving in the United States" is not an urgent issue, and Congress still has time to discuss it again. Democrats "deliberately" led to the closure of the federal government.

Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley said in an interview with the media that Democrats don't want the federal government to close, but now most of the two houses of Congress are * * * and Republicans, the president is also * * * and Republicans, and the power is * * * and the party. Closing the door is the fault of the federal government.

According to American media analysis, members of Congress take care of the interests of their own constituencies and are easy to accept compromise. However, senators tend to think from a broader perspective. The core voters of the Democratic Party cannot accept concessions on immigration. Democratic senators would rather shut down the government than compromise.

There is also public opinion that US President Trump should be responsible for the closure of the federal government, because he did not play a "leading role" as president and party leader, nor did he deliver a national televised speech at the critical moment of the negotiations or have the right to win the support of the Democratic Party.

CNN commentators said that the specific issue involved in the closure of the federal government "deferred repatriation of children arriving in the United States" had a lot of time to solve in the past year, but Congress did not take substantive action. The closure of the federal government is not an immigration problem, nor any other problem, but a failure of the two-party system.

Federal government agencies in the United States have been forced to close many times due to budget problems. According to statistics, since 1977, federal government departments have been partially closed for more than 10 times, ranging from 1 day to several weeks. The last time was in June of 20 13, 10. At that time, in addition to basic functions such as national security, other institutions closed down, about 800,000 employees were forced to take vacations, and 6.5438+0.3 million employees entered unpaid jobs.

According to American estimates, once the federal government agencies are closed, federal employees will be forced to take vacations, and many services will be closed except those necessary for national security. According to American media analysis, the closure of federal government agencies will have a wide impact on society and economy, losing about 6.5 billion US dollars every day. For example, the ability of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to deal with influenza will be reduced, the passport application time will be extended, 19 National Museum will be closed, NASA will suspend some projects, and public services in Washington, D.C. will be suspended.