Copyright theage
Food assistance had not been affected in any of the US’s shutdowns over the past decade. But starting later this week, communities around the country will be in the same situation as my friend in her classroom, wondering how to help the people who are having suffering inflicted upon them because it suits Donald Trump and the Republican government not to properly govern the country. Meanwhile, about 1400 workers who oversee the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile have been furloughed, though Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations remain essentially unchanged. In 2018, the first shutdown on Trump’s watch ended at least in part because air traffic controllers forced to work without pay started taking leave, and airports had to change their operations. That could happen again, with more than 20 airports having to delay more than 8000 flights this week due to a shortage of controllers. The 2013 shutdown lasted 16 days and was a scandal that dogged US politics for years. We passed that shutdown mark nearly two weeks ago, and it’s just become background noise. In the intervening years, Americans have become so accustomed to the dysfunction of Washington that we’ve adapted to it like you adjust your morning commute because of bad traffic. As soon as this shutdown began, Russell Vought, the architect of Project 2025 and director of the Office of Management and Budget, got to work, firing thousands of federal workers from offices he deemed opponents to Trump’s agenda (despite being congressionally authorised and funded). Trump and Vought have made it clear that they have no intention of bringing back many of the 750,000 furloughed workers whose role they see as superfluous.
