The US Senate for the fourth time failed to pass spending proposals aimed at restoring the federal government's work, extending the shutdown until next week. This is reported by UNN with reference to BBC.
Details
It is noted that two separate spending proposals – one from Democrats and one from Republicans – failed to reach the required 60-vote threshold.
With both sides at an impasse, the White House said on Friday it would have to undertake the "unenviable task" of mass layoffs to keep essential government services running if the government shutdown continued.
It is indicated that the scale of these potential layoffs remains unclear, but "the White House is negotiating with the Office of Management and Budget."
Both Republicans and Democrats are working hard on the main point of contention: healthcare. Democrats hoped to use this stalemate to ensure that health insurance subsidies for low-income people did not expire and to reverse the Trump administration's cuts to the Medicaid healthcare program. Republicans, for their part, have repeatedly accused Democrats of shutting down the government to provide healthcare for undocumented immigrants – an accusation that Democratic leaders deny.
The authors add that both sides continue to blame each other for the government shutdown, "and there are almost no signs of progress in the negotiations."
Recall
The United States government officially announced a shutdown on October 1 after Congress and the White House failed to reach an agreement on funding. This happened for the first time since 2019, leaving about 750,000 federal employees without pay.