Nigeria affected as US embassies scale back updates over government shutdown

United States‘ embassies and consulates across the world have announced that they will reduce public communications during the ongoing government shutdown in Washington.

In notices shared on official accounts, the diplomatic missions said they would not post routine updates “until full operations resume”, except for urgent safety and security information.

“At this time, scheduled passport and visa transit services in the United States and at U.S. Embassies and Consulates overseas will continue during the lapse in appropriations as the situation permits,” the notice reads.

“We will not update this account until full operations resume, with the exception of urgent safety and security information.”

Some of the embassies where the statement was issued include Nigeria, Ghana, London, and Bangladesh.

The announcement comes as parts of the US federal government halt normal operations due to a budget faceoff in congress.

Funding was cut off after President Donald Trump’s Republican Party disagreed with opposition Democrats on a spending bill.

The shutdown occurred at midnight.

The spending dispute is especially tense because Trump has spent the last nine months drastically cutting the size of the federal government.

Trump oversaw the last government shutdown during his first term.

The shutdown began at the end of 2018 and ended in January 2019. Lasting 38 days, it was the longest in US history.

It was only called off after 10 air traffic controllers refused to show up at work, temporarily shutting down La Guardia airport in New York.

Meanwhile, Trump has threatened a mass layoff of workers. This could worsen the current shutdown.