Internet picture: On the 11th local time, the partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government entered its 21st day, becoming the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Internet picture

On the 11th local time, the partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government entered its 21st day, becoming the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. However, also on the 11th, President Trump suddenly changed his statement that he would declare a national emergency soon, saying that he did not plan to do so immediately.

"We don't want a national emergency now, and I won't take this approach so quickly." Trump said this during a roundtable meeting with law enforcement officials at the White House on the afternoon of the 11th local time.

He has repeatedly hinted that he would declare a national emergency.

Just the day before, Trump once again hinted that he would declare a national emergency in order to bypass Congress and get the $5.7 billion in wall funding he wanted. The White House and the Pentagon were also rumored to have We have started to make legal and financial preparations for this.

However, even some Republicans are worried that this move will have adverse consequences. Iowa senior federal senator Grassley said on the 11th that the president should not do this. Declaring a national emergency would be a very bad precedent, and Federal courts will soon step in as well.

There are also reports that Trump is considering using emergency disaster relief funds to build the wall, including funds for hurricane recovery in Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico, as well as funds for the aftermath of the wildfires in California. According to reports, since these allocations have not yet been officially received, the president has the power to change the use of the funds, such as using them to build a wall.

Such a proposal triggered a backlash from Republicans in the House of Representatives on the 11th. Rep. Babin, R-Texas, said his district is still recovering from the impact of Hurricane Harvey and hopes the president will get the funding he wants elsewhere. Congressman Carter from Georgia said that there is no doubt that Georgia is still recovering from the impact of the hurricane, and he urged the president not to use disaster relief funds to build the wall.

It is reported that the last time the U.S. federal government shut down for 21 days was during the Clinton administration from the end of 1995 to the beginning of 1996. So far, although Trump has relented on the national emergency, there has been no sign of an agreement between him and congressional Democrats over the differences over the border wall. The two parties have done nothing but blame each other. actual progress.

On January 11, local time, Democrats made another effort to urge Trump and Republicans to compromise. The House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow the Interior Department, Environmental Protection Agency and Forest Service to reopen 240-179, with 10 House Republicans also voting in favor.

Since this week, the House of Representatives, where the Democratic Party controls the majority of seats, has passed four bills in an attempt to reopen some government departments. On the 10th local time, Senate Democrats tried to vote on a budget bill that had passed the House of Representatives, which did not include funding for the wall, but was ultimately blocked by Senate Majority Leader McConnell. McConnell also said the Senate would not vote on any budget bill unless Democrats and President Trump reach an agreement on a wall budget.

Federal employees are even worse off

Starting from the 11th, salaries to federal employees have also been suspended. Since the partial government shutdown, approximately 800,000 federal employees have been deeply affected. They have either been furloughed or are working without pay. That day was supposed to be their pay day, but because of the ongoing government shutdown, they were unable to receive the pay for the past two weeks.

According to Center for American Progress (Center for American Progress) data, for every two weeks of government shutdown, employees of the Department of Homeland Security lose a total of $637 million in salary, employees of the Department of Justice lose $413 million, the Treasury Department $215 million, and the Department of Transportation $208. US$160 million for the Department of the Interior, US$150 million for the Department of Agriculture, and employees of NASA, the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Statistics, and the Department of Housing and Development will also each lose tens of millions of dollars in wages.

The loss of salaries by federal employees means that many of them may not be able to maintain basic living expenses such as rent and food. If the shutdown continues, they may even need to use savings and loans, which will affect consumer spending levels. The current situation has caused the United States to lose more than 2.2 billion US dollars in consumption power, which is detrimental to economic development.

Suspended federal employees contribute an average of $4.8 billion to the U.S. economy each month. Some full-time employees will receive back pay after the shutdown ends, and this part of their spending capacity will also be compensated, but for some contract employees, these losses The salary will never be repaid.

Wall Street worries

On the 10th local time, the share price of American Airlines (AA) fell due to a decline in revenue expectations and a performance in December that did not meet expectations. Wall Street investment bank CowenCo believes that the government shutdown has affected business travel and federal contract employees traveling for work, etc., thus affecting the aviation industry. The hub of American Airlines is Reagan International Airport in Washington, D.C., so the impact is particularly obvious.

Macquarie Group also said that the government shutdown may lead to tax refunds and slow down consumption power, which will cause damage to the retail industry. BMO Capital is concerned that some stores targeting low-income people may be further affected because food stamps and other low-income benefits may be affected by the government shutdown.

In the long term, Macquarie Group is also worried that the debate between the White House and Congress over the border wall has added uncertainty to the long-stalled infrastructure plan, causing anxiety among relevant players in the steel industry. In the longer term, investment bank Stifel also believes that the government shutdown may make cybersecurity, IT and other practitioners reluctant to work for the federal government in the future.

(Source: China News Network)