US government shutdown now longest ever – DW – 11/05/2025
www.dw.com
The government standstill has entered its 36th day, making it the longest closure on record. Congress has failed to approve funding for the new fiscal year that began on October 1.
  • fox2263@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    9 days ago

    As a non American, what does it mean exactly. What is not getting done? It sounds like the country should come to a screaming halt and riots and protests etc

    • Spacehooks@reddthat.comEnglish
      2·
      8 days ago

      things aren’t getting funded but ppl are expected to do their job. Examples like airport and food inspections are running poorly. Plus to make matters worse president keeps saying he wont give back pay.

      • grindemup@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        8 days ago

        Wow this is even worse than I thought. Are people in these jobs unable to strike as well? Is there a meaningful difference between this and indentured servitude?

        • Spacehooks@reddthat.comEnglish
          1·
          8 days ago

          For air traffic control I believe its illegal to strike or something.

          I asked the question why dont they quit till getting paid. Apparently its an issue with restarting benefits basically.

    • LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      1·
      8 days ago

      There are MANY, MANY layers of government in the US. Where I live, we have: cities - townships - counties - states - federal. Each of which draw taxes and fund workers and projects.

      Every single one has a current budget aside from the federal level. So most day to day, local work is getting done. It’s the broader federal work that’s unfunded right now.

      So roads are getting fixed, but NASA projects are unfunded. Local fire departments are getting paid, but federal food assistance is not.

      If we have a hurricane, then the federal emergency management agency won’t have a budget to manage it (but they’re pretty dismantled already)