THE United States of America has a series of complex processes, in times of budgetary crisis, which trigger a “shutdown”.
As of December 20, 2024, the US government faces a shutdown thanks to a divisive budget, backed by Donald Trump, failing to pass in Congress.
Government shutdowns explained
When the US congress, made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, fails to reach an agreement on a spending plan, non-essential services start to close down.
Public employees also stop getting paid.
Any worker whose services are deemed essential are required to work without pay.
Essential services include air traffic control, law enforcement and border protection.
Non essential services include food-assistance programmes, federally funded pre-school and the opening of national parks.
The possible 2024 shutdown
A government shut down looms at the end of 2024 as a Republican spending plan failed to pass.
Dozens of Republicans joined with Democrats in voting against a spending plan which had been backed by Donald Trump.
The bill was the second budget which had been put before congress, after the first was squashed by Trump despite being agreed by both Republicans and Democrats.
That first bill had also been heavily criticized by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk and Trump have called to raise the debt ceiling, which determines how much the government can borrow to pay its bills.
The second bill, which was backed by Trump and Musk, was criticized by Republicans for increasing government spending and by Democrats for giving tax cuts to the super-rich.
Midnight December 20, 2024
If the bill doesn’t successfully pass by midnight December 20, 2024, then the government shutdown will begin.
The situation poses a problem for Trump too, who needed the support of congressional Republicans ahead of his second presidency.
The president-elect has suffered a number of setbacks in his preparation plans for his White House return.
Several of his nominees for government positions, including Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz, have been extremely controversial.
Ahead of the possible shutdown, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris cancelled their holiday plans in order to remain in Washington DC.
