The White House supported US President Donald Trump’s claim that federal workers have already been fired amid ongoing US government shutdowns.
Monday’s backtrack came as the government closure was postponed to the sixth day. Republicans and Democrats were unable to reach a breakthrough to pass budgets that fund various agencies and services.
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Democrats hold tight boundaries in negotiations and are trying to revoke the tax law’s recent cuts to health care.
Both parties have accused others of their impasse, but the Trump administration has taken atypical measures to threaten fire, not just Hurau, who is part of the estimated 750,000 federal workers affected by the shutdown.
On Sunday, Trump appeared to suggest that these layoffs were “on the moment.” He blamed the Democrats for firing.
But on Monday, White House press chief Caroline Leavitt said Trump was referring to “hundreds of thousands of federal workers” who have not been fired yet amid the closure.
Still, she added, “Unfortunately, the Department of Management and Budget continues to work with the agency on who must be fired if this shutdown continues.”
Lawmakers showed little progress as salaries for hundreds of thousands of public sector employees were set to withhold from Friday.
Another set of long-term votes was scheduled for late Monday in the US Senate to fund the government.
Meanwhile, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told members of his party not to come to Congress unless Democrats give way. He told reporters he should stop asking questions about negotiations on Monday, saying it’s up to the opposition to “stop the insanity.”
“We have nothing to negotiate. The House did the job,” Johnson said of the funding bill passed by the Chamber of Commerce, which proved to be a non-alien in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the democratic family’s minority, continued to portray Republicans as abandoned.
“House Republicans believe that protecting everyday American healthcare is less important than their leave,” he said. “We strongly oppose it.”
The fundraising bill is one of Democrats’ few leverages as Republicans control the White House and hold a small majority in both the House and Senate. In the Senate, Republicans hold 53 seats, but need 60 votes to pass the law.
They use their position to drive a reversal of tax law passed earlier this year, primarily robbing healthcare coverage, with cuts to Medicaid programs for low-income households, primarily by exploiting healthcare coverage, according to estimates from the Non-Participation Congressional Budget Office.
Democrats say another 4 million Americans will lose health care next year if the Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies are not extended, with another 24 million Americans looking twice their premiums.
Since the closure began on October 1, several services have been suspended due to the lack of agency funds. Others are facing a fundraising cliff. This includes a $8 billion special supplemental nutrition program (WIC) for women, infants and children. This could run out of funds to provide low-income families with a voucher to purchase prescriptions and other essentials for young children within two weeks.
Federal workers, deemed “essential” remain in their jobs, but they work unpaid until they reach a resolution. Advocacy groups warn that military personnel could start missing wages after mid-October.
The institutions that Furloughs hit the most violently, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Space Agency NASA, Education, the Ministry of Commerce and the Labor sector.
On Monday, U.S. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said the government saw “slight checkups of sick calls” from air traffic controllers in certain regions since the shutdown began. That could lead to air travel disruptions, he said.
“Then you’ll see the delays coming from there,” he said. “If there is an additional illness call, we reduce the flow that matches the rate that is safe for Americans.”
The U.S. Department of Transport also said funds from the U.S. government program, which subsidizes commercial aviation services to rural airports, will also expire Sunday.
