Threatening ‘shutdown’: US Democrat complains of ‘civil war’ among Republicans First round of negotiations: Azerbaijan wants to take power in Nagorno-Karabakh

The top Democrat in the US House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, has accused Republicans of sabotaging the country through an internal “civil war” within the party. “It is a civil war that is eroding Congress’s ability to manage the affairs of the American people and solve problems on behalf of everyday Americans,” Jeffries said in Washington on Thursday.

“Republicans in the House of Representatives continue to be held hostage by the most extreme elements of their caucus, and that hurts the American people,” Jeffries said. The situation is serious. Within a few days, there is a threat of a forced closure of government activities due to the internal party fight over the budget.

The term of the budget approved by the US Congress at the end of last year expires at the end of this month. To prevent the government from going bankrupt, a new federal budget must be approved by the end of September. However, this is complicated by internal party struggles among Republicans, who currently hold the majority in the House of Representatives.

A shutdown would have far-reaching consequences

In the event of a shutdown, there would be no fresh money left for the administration of Democratic US President Joe Biden, whose party regularly gets involved in bitter disputes with Republicans over budget issues. Then some government employees would have to go on forced leave or work temporarily without pay. Social benefits may also be temporarily suspended, for example for low-income families or former military workers.

Jeffries warned that a “shutdown” would harm seniors, children, families, veterans, public education and public safety. The nation’s military readiness and federal employee morale would also be affected.

The political bickering over the budget repeats itself every year; Congress usually does it by passing an interim budget, only to fight again a few months later over funding for government operations. Usually an agreement is only reached just before the deadline expires.

The situation this time is special because the Republicans only have a narrow majority in the US House of Representatives and the group is very fragmented. The chairman of the parliamentary chamber, Republican Kevin McCarthy, was only elected on the 15th ballot in January and is under great pressure from the radical right in his group. They face each other in the budget talks.

(hah/sda/dpa)