Democrats are talking to their voters who are desperate to fight. Republicans rarely reach beyond their base. And President Donald Trump, supposedly the world’s greatest dealmaker, is tuned out.
This Washington stasis explains why no end is in sight to a government shutdown now tied for the second-longest ahead of Trump’s expected departure for Asia at the end of the week for summits. There’s no sign he’ll emulate his first predecessor, President Barack Obama, who canceled a tour of the region in 2013 because of a similar stalemate.
Yet the costs of the partial closure of federal operations are escalating.
Hundreds of thousands of government workers are furloughed. The administration has fired several thousand more. On Monday, most specialists who oversee the US nuclear stockpile at the National Nuclear Security Administration got furlough notices. More air traffic control staffing shortages were reported over the weekend, in an ominous foreshadowing of potential travel crunches if the impasse drags on until Thanksgiving. And time is ticking down to the expiry of critical nutrition support for 42 million Americans next month.
Significant pain is being inflicted
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