Nor has it escaped the US budget paralysis. The national nuclear safety agency, the NNSA, must lay off about 1,400 federal officials for today, while fewer than 400 will remain on duty to ensure the maintenance of US nuclear warheads during this “shutdown,” Energy Ministry spokesman Ben Dietderich told CNN on Friday.
Republican Representative Mike Rogers, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, said the same day that he had been informed that the NNSA was “about to exhaust the relief funds it was using.” “He will have to fire 80% of his employees,” said the elected official, later specifying that they would be placed on technical unemployment, but not fired.
However, according to two NNSA sources cited by CNN, for the moment there is no immediate threat to national security to fear.
More than 700,000 federal officials on technical strike
The shutdown began on October 1 with the expiration of the US budget. Since then, Donald Trump’s Republicans and the Democratic opposition have been unable to agree to break the impasse. Republicans propose expanding the current budget, with the same spending levels, while Democrats call for an expansion of subsidies for health insurance programs for low-income households.
However, due to current rules in the Senate, even if Republicans are in the majority, several Democratic votes are needed to pass a budget. Donald Trump rejects any negotiation on health issues without a prior “reopening” of the federal state.
According to estimates by the Bipparty Policy Center think tank, more than 700,000 federal officials are already unemployed and unpaid. Almost 700,000 more people continue to work without pay until the blockade ends. On the other hand, Donald Trump had promised that the more than 1.3 million US military personnel would normally receive their pay on October 15.
Source: BFM TV
