Government shutdown 2011: live updates
US federal government shutdown looms as Obama and John Boehner battle over budget and Planned Parenthood funding
- guardian.co.uk,
- Article history
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A federal government shutdown looms as Barack Obama and John Boehner are locked in talks over budget cuts and Planned Parenthood. Photograph: Reuters
The list of government agencies that will be disabled by the government shutdown is a long one, and reaches deep within the US economy and American society. The New York Times reports:
Among the people anxiously waiting to hear if Congress can reach a budget deal are front desk clerks at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, manufacturing executives whose companies supply goods to federal agencies, bank loan officers who make mortgages guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration and Wall Street analysts who depend on a steady flow of government data.Some things will continue. Medicare and Medicaid services – the main source of healthcare for the elderly and the poor – receive mandatory funding, so they will be unaffected by the shutdown.
Here's the latest summary of how negotiations are proceeding between Congress and the White House, from my colleague Ewen Macaskill in Washington:
Obama, after a late-night meeting at the White House with Boehner and the Senate leader, Harry Reid, sounded optimistic that a deal could be reached. He said staff from both sides would work through the night to bridge the remaining differences. "I am not prepared to express wild optimism," the president said. "But I think we are further along today than we were yesterday." He is expecting an early answer from the Republicans to prevent the steps necessary to impose a shutdown being put into action. The Democrats said agreement had been reached on about 70% of the issues. A senior Democrat in the House, Steny Hoyer, told NBC "there's no deal yet, unfortunately". He said he was embarrassed about the country being on the brink of a shutdown, but "you can't negotiate on the basis that one side gives 100% and the other gives zero". The Republicans want a cut in the federal deficit of $40bn (£24bn). The Democrats made a compromise offer of $34.5bn on Wednesday. The new sticking points are mainly the areas where the Republicans want cuts – abortion programmes and environmental protection – on which the Democrats refuse to give way.
Republican leader John Boehner says his goal is to 'make real cuts in spending'. Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters In less than 11 hours from now the US government will lose its funding and effectively shut down – causing around 800,000 federal employees not deemed to be "essential" to take forced unpaid leave with an uncertain end date.
By refusing to pass a bill allowing the federal government to be funded, the Republican dominated House of Representatives is forcing a showdown with the White House and Barack Obama. If the shutdown occurs, Washington DC will grind to a halt and the full panoply of modern government services, from national parks to passport applications, will be closed for the time being.
America's armed forces and other parts of the country's infrastructure will continue to earn wages, although how they will actually be paid them is another matter.
In 1995-96, a similar battle between Democratic president and Republican speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich saw the government shutdown as the Republican majority choked off its funds. But the move backfired on Gingrich – and helped Clinton sail to re-election as president later that year.
Will history repeat itself? As the clock ticks closer to midnight, where is Jack Bauer when America needs him?
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