Serikali ya Marekani imefungwa rasmi baada ya Bunge la Congress kushindwa kufikia makubaliano ya ufadhili wa kuendesha shughuli za kila siku, na hali iliyobaki kuwa sintofahamu kuhusu kinachofuata
Ni mara nyingine tangu 2019 Serikali kufunga shughuli zake, ambapo vyama vya Republican na Democrat vimekuwa vikilaumiana kila upande ukisisitiza hautabeba lawama kwa kusimama kwa bajeti hiyo, republican
Seneti ilitarajiwa kupiga kura tena Jumatano asubuhi kuhusu mpango wa ufadhili wa Republican — mpango ambao viongozi wa chama hicho wamesema wataendelea kuwasilisha kila siku hadi idadi ya Wademocrat itakapokubali kufungua tena serikali. Hata hivyo, baadhi ya Wademocrat wametangaza hadharani hawatarudi nyuma, licha ya vitisho vya Rais Donald Trump na ofisi yake
Kufungwa huku kunakwaisha mamia ya maelfu ya wafanyakazi wa serikali kulazimika kupelekwa likizo bila malipo, huku wengine wanaochukuliwa kuwa wa lazima wakiendelea kufika kazini bila uhakika wa mishahara hadi mkwamo utakapomalizika. Wafanyakazi wengine wachache, ambao mishahara yao haihitaji kupitishwa kila mwaka na Congress, wataendelea kulipwa
Raia wa Marekani pia wataguswa moja kwa moja baadhi ya huduma zitaendelea, lakini nyingine zitasimama. Safari za ndege na ukaguzi wa usalama huenda zikakumbwa na msongamano kutokana na upungufu wa watumishi, ingawa huduma muhimu kama malipo ya pensheni za wazee (Social Security), bima ya afya (Medicare na Medicaid), pamoja na marupurupu ya wasio na ajira yataendelea kulipwa
Huduma za afya na msaada muhimu kwa wanajeshi wastaafu hazitasitishwa. Hii ni pamoja na programu za kuzuia kujiua, mipango ya kusaidia wasio na makazi, hata hivyo, baadhi ya huduma kama simu ya usaidizi wa GI Bill na programu zinazowasaidia wanajeshi kuhamia maisha ya kiraia zitasitishwa hadi serikali itakapofunguliwa tena
=========
A weekslong stalemate between Republicans and Democrats over enhanced Obamacare subsidies has turned into the first government shutdown since 2019. Leaders of both parties are privately and publicly adamant that they will not be blamed for the funding lapse. Republicans insist Democrats need to simply agree to extend current funding for another seven weeks. But Democrats refuse to do so without major concessions for lending their votes to pass any funding measure in the Senate
Senators left the Capitol on Tuesday night in a state of deep uncertainty about how long the shutdown could last. The Senate is on track to vote again late Wednesday morning on the same GOP funding plan which Republican leaders have vowed to put on the floor day after day until enough Democrats yield and agree to reopen the government. But many Democrats have declared publicly they will not relent, even as President Donald Trump and his budget office have ramped up threats to use the shutdown to further shrink the size of government in some cases permanently
“It’s going to be very harmful for working people,” a visibly exasperated GOP Sen. Josh Hawley told CNN moments after Democrats blocked the bill. “I don’t know how it ends. They don’t know how it ends,” he said. “You’re asking millions of people to pay a really high price.”
In the Democratic party, the pressure is now on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to keep more of his members from yielding to the GOP pressure campaign to support their seven-week funding bill and agree to negotiate later on the Obamacare subsidies. That task will become tougher with every day of a shutdown, particularly as Trump has threatened to cancel programs favored by Democrats. Inside the party, there’s growing concern about the damage that the White House budget office could cause across the country that can’t be easily reversed by Congress
Source: CNN
