Trump administration shutdown continues; $15 billion in losses to the US economy amid bipartisan war.
The US government shutdown is entering its sixth week, and Trump continues to insist that he has no plans to negotiate with Democrats. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the shutdown will shave 1 to 2 percentage points off fourth-quarter GDP growth.
The Congressional Budget Office also said the US economy could lose $15 billion in services provided by federal workers, lower spending on goods and services, and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Trump has claimed that if Democrats give in, the shutdown will end. But if they don’t vote to end the shutdown, it will be their own problem.
The US president has called Democrats “crazy” who have “lost their way.” He has blamed Democrats for the shutdown, which is set to become the longest in US history, but has refused to offer an immediate plan to address health care costs.
The health care budget is a key issue for Democrats, who are pushing Republicans to agree to extend subsidies for more than 20 million Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
The government shutdown began a month ago and is just days away from the 35-day shutdown that occurred during Trump’s first term in office in 2018-2019.
The prolonged shutdown comes as millions of Americans risk losing their food stamps in November.
The majority of US voters blame Trump and Republicans
A majority of voters in a new NBC News poll blame Trump or Republicans in Congress for the federal government shutdown, now in its second month.
The poll, conducted in late October, found that 52 percent of US voters blame Trump and Republicans for the shutdown. 25% blame congressional Republicans, 24% blame Trump himself, and 3% blame both.
42% of respondents blame congressional Democrats for the government shutdown.
The poll was conducted as the federal government shutdown entered its fifth week, and there has been no meaningful progress toward reaching an agreement to reopen the federal government.
Democrats have stressed that they will not support the Republican proposal to end the shutdown without extending Obamacare, which is set to expire at the end of this year, and they insist that the program benefits millions of Americans.
The poll was conducted among 1,000 eligible voters from October 24 to 28 and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.