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US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday (November 9) that the government shutdown that has been going on for more than 40 days is almost ending. CNN quoted a source as saying that this announcement came at a time when an agreement has been reached between the two parties in the Senate to finance the government till January 30. The Upper House is ready to vote on the Affordable Care Act bill in December.

Earlier in the day, Axios reported that Republicans have at least 10 Democratic votes to advance the revised funding package. According to CNN, the new Senate agreement includes a complete reversal of President Donald Trump’s decision to fire federal employees and also includes provisions to prevent such action in the future.

8 Democrats agree to vote
According to CNN report, this will also ensure that food stamp funds continue till fiscal year 2026. At least eight Democratic senators have agreed to vote for the deal, which was struck between three former governors, Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Angus King and Maggie Hassan, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House.

The crisis may end in the next few days
If this bill is passed in the Senate, the amended bill will probably go to the House of Representatives again. It will then be sent to the White House for Trump’s signature, which could end the crisis in the next few days. Once signed, federal agencies will immediately resume full operations and furloughed employees will receive back pay owed under the Government Employee Fair Practices Act of 2013. Which will be paid in a few weeks.

Services like National Parks, IRS tax processing and passport issuance, which were closed since October 1, will reopen. However, due to pending work, refunds and approvals may be delayed for months, as happened during the 2018-2019 shutdown.

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The country’s longest government shutdown going on in America is impacting air travel. From Friday, flights will be reduced at about 40 major airports including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. This decision has been taken due to shortage of air traffic control staff and to maintain safety.

FAA decides to cut flights by 10%
The FAA said it would reduce air traffic by up to 10% at 40 “high-volume” airports. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that flight capacity at 40 major airports across the country could be reduced by 10% in the coming days. The shutdown has now entered its 37th day and has become America’s longest government shutdown to date.

Political deadlock causes shutdown
This time the main cause of controversy is the expansion of the tax credit scheme related to health insurance. The Democratic Party wants this tax credit to continue beyond 2025, so that millions of Americans can get affordable health insurance. At the same time, the Republican Party, whose leader is Donald Trump, is opposing this expansion. Due to this, the government budget could not be passed and America went into a shutdown situation from October 1.

Lack of air traffic controllers and flights affected
Due to the shutdown, there is a huge shortage of air traffic controllers. There have already been restrictions on flights at New York’s JFK, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia airports due to staff shortage. FAA chief Brian Bedford said many air traffic controllers were falling sick due to stress and fatigue, and had not been paid for a month. Due to this, flights will be reduced in the coming days.

Federal employee status and cutback plans
Approximately 1.4 million federal employees are working without pay or are on forced leave. Many employees are forced to take other jobs or struggle with stress.
The flight reduction plan will be implemented in this way-

• 4% reduction in domestic flights on Friday
• 5% reduction on Saturday
• 6% decrease on Sunday
• Increase by 10% next week

According to CBS News, this reduction will apply to America’s busiest airports – Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles International.

In terms of economy, America is the largest country in the world, whose GDP is $30.507 trillion. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve, America’s central banking institution, has once again announced a reduction in interest rates. After this cut, the key rate has now become 3.9 percent, which was earlier 4.1 percent. This decision has come at a time when the American economy is facing a government shutdown and a decline in the rate of employment growth. However, the Fed says that this step was necessary to encourage economic growth and job creation.

Announcing the rate cut, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the government shutdown has definitely affected economic activity, but this effect will not be permanent. He said that due to government work coming to a standstill, official figures of employment and inflation are not being released. Because of this, at present the Fed has to rely on economic signals from private institutions.

Decline in employment and rise in inflation became the reason for reducing rates.
The Fed had increased interest rates by 5.3 percent in the last two years to control inflation. Meanwhile, the pace of employment has slowed down, opportunities for new work are decreasing and consumer spending has decreased. The inflation rate is now at around 3 percent, which is more than the Fed’s target of 2 percent. Despite this, Powell said that now the focus will be on economic growth and increasing employment, because too tight monetary policy could have a negative impact on the market.

Impact on the American people and the world
This decision of the Federal Reserve is expected to provide relief to common American citizens. Loan installments will be cheaper, interest rates for houses and vehicles will decrease and it will be easier to take business loans. However, there will be a possibility of reduction in interest on savings accounts. This step is important at the global level also. Dollar may weaken due to low US rates and this is likely to increase investment in Asian countries including India.

Government shutdown becomes a big challenge
The federal shutdown currently going on in America is a result of the budget dispute between the government and Congress. Lakhs of government employees are without salary and the work of many departments has come to a standstill. Powell said that due to lack of government data, it has become difficult to decide the Fed’s policy. For this reason, the decision to reduce the rate in the next meeting to be held in December will depend on the circumstances.

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