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How long will government shutdown last? Trump issues massive threat
The US government has entered a shutdown and White House Budget Director Russell Vought is reportedly planning to quickly dismiss federal workers.
The federal government has entered into a shutdown after the House and Senate were not able to reach a spending deal by 12:01 am on October 1.
The last shutdown came in December 22, 2018, when Donald Trump was in his first term of presidency. This went on till January 25, 2019. At 35 days, this was the longest government shutdown in over four decades. As per the Congressional Budget Office, this move cost the US an estimated $3 billion in lost GDP.
How long can a government shutdown last?
Technically a government shutdown will last till Congress passes and the President signs appropriation bills. However, White House Budget Director Russell Vought is reportedly planning to quickly dismiss federal workers. The move is intended to make Democrats cave to end the government shutdown.
Also Read | How does a government shutdown end? Process, timeline, and what happens next
Vought told House lawmakers on Wednesday that some federal agencies will move to terminate workers within one to two days, as per to people familiar with the remarks, Bloomberg reported.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that layoffs would happen within “two days, imminent, very soon” but declined to give any details about what agencies or positions would be targeted.
President Donald Trump and his team have moved quickly to capitalize on the shutdown to shrink the size of the federal government.
“A lot of good can come from shutdowns, we can get rid of a lot of things we didn't want, and they'd be Democrat things,” Trump said.
The last shutdown, which was in 2018, was partial. Congress had approved funding for some agencies, which meant they continued to function, while the others went dark. At that time, reportedly 300,000 of the 800,000 working at those agencies were furloughed – they were not paid and asked not to report for work either. This time, the shutdown is a complete one.
US agencies were first instructed to cease normal operations in the event government funding lapses, until Congress appropriates more money, in the early 1980s.
(With Bloomberg inputs)
