Negotiations in Congress continue to be deadlocked, the US government prepares to shut down

On September 28, the US government began notifying employees of the risk of shutdown if Congress does not approve a budget plan to spend on government operations before October 1, the start of fiscal year 2024.

This scenario could leave millions of federal and military workers temporarily furloughed or without pay, while a wide range of services are shut down.

Some federal employees have been notified to prepare for the situation.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been told that it will cut staff across most departments during the government shutdown, although key programs will continue to operate.

HHS also updated the department's contingency plans, noting that "temporary furloughs" will be implemented for employees with prior notice.

Employees of other government agencies also received similar notices.

This budget impasse is believed to stem mainly from deep divisions within the Republican Party over taxes and spending, including the $24 billion aid package for Ukraine.

Additionally, the risk of a government shutdown is increasing as the Senate and House of Representatives are moving in opposite directions in an effort to avoid a government shutdown.

On September 28, the Democratic-controlled US Senate voted to open debate on a temporary spending bill to prevent a government shutdown.

The bill extends federal spending until November 17, giving parties more time to negotiate budget bills for the full year.

The document also proposes providing about $6 billion for domestic disaster response funds and aid to Ukraine.

However, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives opposes the measure and wants to push Congress to pass its own measure.

On September 28, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on four budget allocation bills that do not only include solutions to prevent the risk of government shutdown.

Growing disagreements over government funding are threatening to disrupt payments to the military, law enforcement, food safety and assistance programs, passport processing, travel, and more.

In the worst case scenario, if no deal is reached before the start of fiscal year 2024 (October 1, 2023-October 30, 2024), the US government will have to shut down until a budget bill for next year is passed.

According to estimates from the American Federation of Government Employees - the largest labor union in the US, including employees working for the central and federal governments, nearly 1.8 million federal employees could fall into a situation of delayed pay if the government shuts down.

Meanwhile, the White House said on September 28 that in the event of a partial shutdown of the US government, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Relief Fund would be affected. This would lead to the stagnation of nearly 2,000 long-term disaster recovery projects.

The US government has shut down before. The most recent one lasted 35 days, from late 2018 to early 2019, under President Donald Trump. This was the longest shutdown in US history, due to disagreements between the President and Congress at the time over a government spending bill.