China doesn’t take Biden seriously says US senator

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A US Government shutdown is imminent as lawmakers in Washington DC fight over funding ahead of Thursday’s deadline. Democrats and Republicans have been arguing over a bill to pass funding for a new fiscal year that begins on Friday.

Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives and Senate were expected to put a temporary funding bill, possibly extending through December 3, up for a vote as soon as Wednesday, in the hope that Republicans will support it.

Democrats, who narrowly control the Senate and House of Representatives, are working to head off fiscal disasters while also trying to advance Joe Biden’s ambitious legislative agenda.

Earlier this week Republicans voted down a resolution that would have kept the Government open and lifted the debt limit to prevent a default on the USA’s credit.

On Monday, the Senate voted 48 to 50 and was not able to pass a government funding bill that would allow the progression of President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion federal overhaul.

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The country is set to default on its credit sometime in October, and money for running the government will run out at the end of the month.

The debt limit is for spending that the US has already incurred.

Lawmakers will need to step in and pass what’s called a “continuing-resolution” measure that would temporarily fund the government.

If they can’t pass that, the government risks a shutdown, which could cause government-employee furloughs and huge ripple in the USA’s economy.

What will happen if the Government shuts down?

A new US shutdown will have practical and economic implications.

In a practical sense, all services funded by the federal Government will either shutdown or be severely affected.

Law enforcement, national security air traffic controllers, airport security officials and the military will all most likely still work, but they will not be paid.

For Americans, it will become difficult to do a number of things, such as process home or small business loan applications, apply for passports, and food safety inspections could all stop.

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On an economic level, a shutdown of this nature could spell disaster for the US economy.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned lawmakers of the “catastrophic” consequences of failing to act in time.

Ms Yellen warned older adults could see their Social Security payments delayed, soldiers would not know when their paychecks were coming and interest rates on credit cards, car loans and mortgages would rise.

She also suggested that a default would imperil the dollar’s status as the international reserve currency – something it is argued would be a gift to China.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican, said: “There is no chance Republicans will help lift Democrats’ credit limit so they can immediately steamroller through a socialist binge that will hurt families and help China.”

Ms Yellen said: “It would be disastrous for the American economy, for global financial markets, and for millions of families and workers whose financial security would be jeopardised by delayed payments.”

She also said a shutdown could cause the USA to fall into a recession, a disaster following the economic downturn caused by coronavirus.

She said: “A government shutdown would impair our ability to respond to the pandemic and disrupt normal government operations.

“As painful as this would be, failing to address the debt limit and defaulting on our national obligations would be far worse — likely provoking a historical financial collapse and causing our economy to fall into recession.”

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