Day 22 of US Shutdown: Senate Fails to Reach Agreement

Today marks the 22nd day of the government shutdown in the United States, which began on October 1st. This is the second-longest shutdown in American history. Previously, the shutdown lasted for 35 days in 2018 and 21 days in 1995.

On October 20th, the Senate, the upper house of the US Parliament, voted for the 11th time to pass a funding bill. However, the government received only 55 of the required 60 votes.

Due to the shutdown, approximately 750,000 government employees are on unpaid leave and are forced to borrow money to support their families.

Meanwhile, President Trump taunted the opposition Democrats, saying, “We will not succumb to their insane pressure.” He appealed to Democratic lawmakers to resolve the impasse.

Failed agreement on health care program

The two major parties in the US, Democrats and Republicans, are at odds over the Obama health care subsidy program. Democrats wanted to increase health care subsidies.

Republicans feared that increasing subsidies would require more government spending, which would impact other government functions.