Government Shutdown Continued

As of November 12th, the United States continues its government shutdown to a 43th day, the longest shutdown in US history. The crisis reached an all time boiling point, as flights have been reduced across the country, causing panic among millions of Americans dependent on air transportation. In addition, SNAP recipients have not received aid in November yet despite the recent Federal court decision on November 7 to mandate SNAP resume. Even as it nears its possible conclusion, the shutdown has had a very climactic series of events. 

Despite the court filing, the Trump Administration said that there is only $4.65 billion available, down from the previous $8 billion. 

In early October, the Federal government shut down, due to disagreements in Congress about passing funding bills to Federal programs, like SNAP. If at the end of the fiscal year (Sep 30) Congress had not agreed on a new funding bill, they must pass a continuing resolution (CR), which is a temporary solution until a funding bill is agreed upon. 

This fiscal year, Congress failed to pass a CR, which led to the government shutting down. The government cuts off funding to these federal programs, as well as furloughing any employees that aren’t essential. 

One of the biggest federal programs in the U.S. is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as SNAP. Over 42 million Americans rely on the program each month in order to put food on the table for their families. However, with the government shutdown leaning into its second month, SNAP benefits are in jeopardy of being cut off to those in need. Many people who depend on these benefits are worried, even scared of how they will possibly get food on the table for their families this month. In Congress, Democratic and Republican lawmakers remain without a solution to fully fund the SNAP program. 

President Trump called for the funds to be held for SNAP, until the government shutdown ended. Officials in the Department of Agriculture say that they cannot use the contingency fund (existing money) because there has been no appropriation for regular benefits, due to the government shutdown. 

In response, Democratic lawmakers sued the Trump administration, saying that the government can use emergency funds in a crisis like this. They claim that the cuts to SNAP are illegal, and that the government cannot just suspend the benefits for an indefinite amount of time. 

“[The benefits] will be given only when the radical left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!” Trump said in a social media post on Nov 4. 

This statement goes directly against what Trump’s administration said in a court filing the day before, saying that they would partially fund SNAP benefits. The ordeal has left many people confused, scared, and unsure of the next step the government will take to right the ship. 

Another huge conflict has emerged in American skies, as the shutdown bled into November, officially the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) ordered all airspace activities to be reduced by 10% going into November. The reason? Staffing shortages in airports all over the country, including 40 “high volume” venues. Air traffic controllers have been few and far between, as they have not been paid because of the shutdown. 

According to the New York Post (through CBS news), four of NYC’s major airports were expected to face flight reductions, including Newark, Liberty, JFK, and LaGuardia. 

“People in the nation might struggle if they have relatives, or people they need to meet in distant countries, and they can’t see them; that’s a lot of hardship on their emotions,” said NHS sophomore Grayson Pimentel. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addressed CBS News about the reasons why flights were being reduced, and some even canceled. 

“Many of the controllers said, ‘A lot of us can navigate missing one paycheck. Not everybody, but a lot of us can. None of us can manage missing two paychecks,’” Duffy said on Nov 5. Duffy also warned that if the government stays shut down for much longer, the country might go into “mass chaos,” and blames the Democrats for not doing more to avoid this outcome.  

“So if you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos. You will see mass flight delays. You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have air traffic controllers.” Duffy said, emphasizing how it is out of the FAA’s control. 

It’s clear to see that the deeper we go into this government shutdown, the more our country will crumble. These two crises are the biggest in the shutdown so far, but that could only amplify as this record breaking halt continues to destroy everything in its way.