Civil servants across the United States who will soon be temporarily laid off or forced to work without pay have been receiving official notices since Thursday about the federal budget paralysis that will begin on Sunday if elected members of Congress are denied a hearing.
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Federal administration and military employees have been preparing for this “shutdown” for several days. But as the deadline approaches and Democrats and Republicans appear deadlocked, it seems more and more inevitable.
Some ministries therefore informed their employees about the possible consequences by email on Thursday morning.
“Certain and pre-registered employees would be placed on temporary technical unemployment, meaning they would not be eligible to work or use department resources,” the Department of Health warned in an email sent to employees Thursday morning the AFP was able to consult.
You then have to wait for the “shutdown” to end in order to receive your salary retroactively. The longest period of fiscal paralysis in the United States lasted 35 days in December 2018 and January 2019.
“Some of you will be temporarily unemployed, while others (…) will continue to perform assigned duties,” the Department of Homeland Security told its officials in an email cited by The Washington Post.
The only solution to cutting funding for federal services at midnight on October 1: a last-minute deal between Democrats and Republicans.
“A dozen extremists”
A compromise was reached in the Senate on a short-term budget proposal that allowed a few additional weeks for the agreement. It is supported by the vast majority of elected officials.
However, the situation is deadlocked in the House of Representatives. A handful of Trumpist elected Republicans are refusing to vote on a text that would include financial aid to Ukraine.
The White House continues to condemn these elected officials for blocking any agreement, just over a year before the presidential election.
The leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, also pointed the finger at her on Thursday and also attacked the leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.
“A dozen extremists who have absolutely no interest in governing or preserving democracy or America’s strength in the world have more influence with (Kevin) McCarthy than the majority of his party and than the vast majority of the House of Representatives above it.” he presides,” he denounced.
“Staff reduced”
With a large portion of civil servants technically unemployed, ministries will be operating in slow motion indefinitely.
The Department of Health will “experience staff reductions in nearly all departments for the duration of this period,” according to the email received by employees.
“Many of our key programs and activities would continue, albeit with reduced staffing,” it said. Projects “would be delayed or interrupted.”
Services deemed “essential” would be maintained. However, paralysis would have very serious consequences in a variety of areas, from reductions in food aid to non-conservation of national parks.
This is also expected to significantly impact air traffic as air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Agency (TSA) officials will be affected.
In the transportation sector, a “shutdown” could have “disruptive and dangerous” consequences, warned US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday.