Political experts have issued grave warnings over the state of the US government with its shutdown set to rock Americans.
Experts say deep divisions between Democrats and President Donald Trump’s Republicans have made compromise 'almost impossible' - and that this shutdown could turn into one of the longest in the country's 249-year history.
“It’s possible this shutdown drags on for weeks, not just days,” Andrew Koneschusky, a former press secretary for Senator Chuck Schumer, told the French news agency AFP.
“Right now, both sides are dug in and there’s very little talk of compromise.”
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In 2018 and 2019, during Trump’s first term in charge of the US, the federal government experienced its longest shutdown on record, lasting about five weeks and completely halting operations across multiple agencies.
Meanwhile, the 79-year-old POTUS has accused Democrats of blocking his efforts to pass a funding bill.
“They’re causing it. We’re ready to go back,” he told reporters at the White House on Sunday (October 5).
He also warned his administration had begun permanently firing federal employees rather than just furloughing them, again placing the blame on his political opponents for the mounting chaos.
As for why Trump is blaming the Democrats, that's because the opposition party have the majority in the Senate where the spending bill was presented.
The Democrats are refusing to back the Republican bill, saying the proposal will make it more difficult for Americans to afford healthcare, for example.
They are calling for cuts to Medicaid made by Trump to be reversed, as well as opposing cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Earlier this year, Democrats reluctantly supported a temporary funding plan to prevent a shutdown but faced backlash from some inside the party.
Jeff Le, a former senior California official, believes a deal might not come quickly.
“I could see a temporary agreement coming from both parties by the end of October,” he said, per AFP.
“Anything beyond two months would halt government operations seriously and potentially impact national and homeland security considerations.”
Le also warned that public frustration could soon become the biggest factor, saying both sides risk being blamed if the stalemate continues through October.
Economists have already pointed towards serious consequences, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warning the shutdown could slow GDP growth and some analysts estimating the economy could be losing billions every week.
Financial analyst Michael Ashley Schulman says a major market reaction could finally push both sides to act.
“If Wall Street gets spooked and Treasury yields spike, even the most ideologically caffeinated will suddenly discover a deep commitment to bipartisan solutions,” he said.
For now, with tens of thousands of federal workers unpaid and vital services suspended, the shutdown shows no sign of ending soon.
Topics: Donald Trump, Republicans, Politics
Joe Yates