Trump ends the longest shutdown in US history
On Thursday morning, US President Donald Trump ended the longest government shutdown in US history after signing a new government funding bill, ending a 43-day crisis that led to widespread administrative and economic paralysis.
Trump’s signing of the bill came during a ceremony held in the Oval Office in the presence of a number of Republican lawmakers, who met his decision with applause, where the US president said: “Today we are sending a clear message that we will never give in to blackmail”.
Trump accused the Democratic Party of causing the crisis, calling on Americans to remember what the Democrats did during next year’s midterm elections.
The bill comes after the Republican-majority House of Representatives approved a funding package earlier approved by a Senate committee, allowing federal departments and agencies to reopen.
A number of Democrats expressed displeasure with the bill’s passage, saying their leaders had made excessive concessions.
In a sharply worded statement before the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson said: “The Democrats knew this shutdown was going to cause suffering, and yet they kept it going. It was a wrong and unjustified decision”.
Under the new agreement, more than 670,000 temporarily laid off government employees will return to their jobs, while employees in vital sectors such as air traffic controllers and airport security personnel will receive their salaries after weeks of unpaid work.
The decision also provides for the reinstatement of all federal employees who were temporarily laid off, while air travel is expected to gradually return to normal in the coming days.
Although the crisis is over, the final cost of the shutdown hasn’t yet been determined, but the US Congressional Budget Office has estimated the economic losses of about $14 billion in national growth, as a result of the shutdown in government activity and the decline in public spending.
