US SHUTDOWN – 33 DAYS AND COUNTING…..

2013 was the first time ever that the world even heard about something like a “US Govt shutdown.” Who shuts down a Govt? Is that like a shop???? That was the incredulous sentiment all over. But fortunately, there was no shut down but we all got to know its existence.

Then last year too, the same thing happened but this time around, for a couple of days, US did experience the shutdown. And once again there was bafflement all over the world.

Now in 2019, after so many gaffes and rhetoric’s from Trump, where we have come to realise that under his regime, anything can happen, no one is really paying any attention to the US shutdown.

Its been 33 days, not one or two but 33 days since the US Govt is shutdown and for the rest of the world, its business as usual. But for those living in the USA, people have started to feel the pinch, beginning with the airport, where even domestic travel takes over 3 hours to get through mere security check.

So what’s the current shutdown about?

The Trump administration enacted a partial government shutdown at midnight on December 22 2018 after the Senate failed to break an impasse over the president’s demand for more funding to build a wall on the US border with Mexico. He wants $5 billion to build a steel wall to keep off the illegal immigrants!

How can this impasse end?

Any agreement to end the shutdown would require both the support of Democrats and the signature of Mr Trump. Democrats said they were open to other proposals that didn’t include the wall. But Mr Trump, entrenching his position, tweeted about to say, “the crisis of illegal activity” at America’s southern border is “real and will not stop until we build a great Steel Barrier or Wall”.

When they say ‘partial shutdown, what all remains closed?

Border Protection and Immigration, air traffic controls, and the Transportation Security Administration remain open. Justice Department remains open and the , Postal Service has a separate source of funds, so mail continues to be delivered. Doctors and hospitals will receive their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. The departments that are shut currently are:

• Commerce, except National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
• Education.
• Energy. Functions that oversee the safety of the nation's nuclear arsenal, dams, and transmission lines remain open.
• Environmental Protection Agency.
• Food and Drug Administration.
• Health and Human Services.
• Housing and Urban Development.
• Interior, including National Parks.
• Internal Revenue Service, except those processing tax returns.
• Labor, including Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• NASA.
• National Institute of Health.
• Smithsonian

Trump has said that he will not bow down and does not expect the shutdown to end any time soon.

Maybe at this point of time, the impact is not really being felt world around but once the airport lines get longer and frustration builds or God forbid, if the US national security is breached, only then the stalemate could end. But then again, with Trump at the helm, even that might not be enough – he could use that as a point to reiterate the need to that steel wall!