It is once again one of those nights in Washington in which democracy threatens to break under its own paralysis. Hours before the deadline the US government is facing a partial shutdown because Congress and the president cannot agree on a budget. What sounds like routine \u2013 after all, American politics has a long tradition of budget battles \u2013 is in truth a risky game on the backs of millions of people. This time it is not about wall building or abstract austerity packages but about the core of the American welfare state: affordable health insurance. The starting point is clear: Democrats want to extend the expanded subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduced in 2021. Without these subsidies, the price caps for around 24 million insured will expire at the end of the year. The result would be skyrocketing premiums that would be unaffordable for many families. Republicans are blocking and claim the subsidies are a gateway for illegal migrants \u2013 a claim that has long been refuted by fact checks. Not a single undocumented immigrant receives these subsidies. Yet the lie is repeated again and again because it has political effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, who in his second year after returning to the White House still likes to present himself as a \"negotiator,\" has summoned the leadership of Congress to the Oval Office: Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Democratic opponents Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. A historic meeting? More like a theater play. While Schumer and Jeffries point to the seriousness of the situation, Trump posts a manipulated video just a few hours later that is meant to ridicule the Democrats \u2013 complete with cartoon sombrero and mariachi music. What should have counted as negotiation ends as a meme battle online. The consequences of a shutdown, however, are anything but virtual. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees face forced leave without pay, many could even be laid off. In air safety the flight operations would be maintained but without pay, which in a system already plagued by staff shortages adds further risks. In Oklahoma City, where the only school for trainee air traffic controllers is located, classes would have to be suspended \u2013 a severe setback in a field that already suffers from 3,000 open positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n