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The support of 60 votes required to end the longest shutdown ever in America has been received. But it is still not over. Some processes are left to finish it. This may take several more days. Now 40 days have passed since the shutdown. The previous longest shutdown was also during Donald Trump’s previous tenure. Then it continued for 34 days.
New Delhi. The longest government shutdown in America has been going on for 40 days and currently there is no end in sight. An important voting took place in the US Senate on Sunday, which definitely showed a ray of hope, but it may take a few more days for the government work to be completely restored. Actually, this shutdown started from October 1 when the funding bill could not be agreed between the Democrat and Republican leaders in the US Congress. The confrontation led to the longest shutdown ever, freezing the salaries of thousands of government employees and paralyzing many essential services.
Every year in America, the new financial year starts from October 1. Before that, Congress has to pass the funding bill to run the government. But this time the matter got stuck regarding healthcare. Republicans wanted the government to be temporarily funded as before, while Democrats wanted a decision on healthcare tax credits and Medicaid cuts first. This conflict became the reason for the shutdown.
Why was Sunday voting important?
On Sunday night, approval was given to move forward a new bill in the Senate with 60 votes. It promises to provide temporary funding to the government and a separate vote on the healthcare tax credit later. The surprising thing was that 8 Democrats broke their party lines and voted with the Republicans. At the same time, Rand Paul, a Republican, voted against it.
Who are those 8 Democrats?
These include Dick Durbin, Angus King, Catherine Cortez Masto, Jackie Rosen, John Fetterman, Tim Kaine, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan. This is also being criticized from within the party because no guarantee of increasing healthcare subsidy was given in this deal.
what will happen next
After passing this bill in the Senate, it will now have to be passed in the House of Representatives. Only after this will it go to President Donald Trump for signature. The entire process may take several more days. This means that government offices will remain closed for the time being and there will be a delay in getting salaries to the employees.
What effect will it have on India?
America’s shutdown may be a domestic issue, but it impacts the world’s largest economies. For countries like India, this means that there will be increased volatility in the American markets, the rupee may come under pressure against the dollar and the IT-export sector may be affected. Especially on those Indian companies whose projects are related to American government agencies.
