The U.S. government officially stopped its activities at midnight on October 1. The reason is a budget disagreement between President Donald Trump and Congress. This is the first such case in the last six years.
According to CNN, Democrats demanded additional funding for the healthcare system, while Republicans proposed temporarily extending the budget until November. After the negotiations ended without result, some federal government agencies stopped working.
Trump blamed the Democrats, emphasizing that this situation would lead to thousands of civil servants being laid off. According to reports, up to 750,000 employees could be temporarily unemployed. However, the military, postal services, and social programs continue to operate as usual.
In the last 50 years, the U.S. government has faced such a financial dead end 21 times. The longest pause occurred in 2018, lasting 35 days.
