US shutdown hits 40 days — longest government closure in country’s history

A prolonged standoff between Republicans and Democrats over government spending and healthcare subsidies has pushed the US government shutdown into its 40th day.

This is now the longest shutdown in the country’s history, surpassing the previous record of 38 days which began at the end of 2018 and ended in January 2019 — during the first Donald Trump presidency.

A US government shutdown occurs when congress fails to pass budget bills or halts resolutions to fund federal government operations and agencies for the new fiscal year.

The current shutdown began on October 1 when the US federal fiscal year begins.

The spending dispute is especially tense because Trump has spent the last 10 months drastically cutting the size of the federal government.

Key points of contention include healthcare provisions, specifically the extension of premium tax credits for health insurance and Medicaid funding.

Republicans sought a “clean” funding bill without these extensions, while Democrats intended to maintain expanded health benefits and opposed cuts to public health agencies.

The drag has left some 900,000 federal employees furloughed with two million working without pay.

When the shutdown commenced, US embassies and consulates across the world announced that they would reduce public communications.

The diplomatic missions said they would not post routine updates “until full operations resume”, except for urgent safety and security information.

The US embassy in Nigeria issued a similar statement.