The US government shutdown, which began on October 1 when Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on a funding bill, has now passed one month. Americans are increasingly facing delays and interruptions to their everyday lives.Around 730,000 federal employees (32 percent of the federal workforce) have been working without pay, according to data from the Bipartisan Policy Center, while 670,000 have been furloughed – sent home without pay – because government departments can’t legally pay them. That number will go up as the shutdown drags on and government departments run out of money.The shutdown has led to the disruption to or even full cessation of a number of services, including essential food assistance.How long has the shutdown been going on?In the lead-up to the shutdown in October, US President Donald Trump threatened to pursue mass federal layoffs after Democrats refused to approve a Republican-backed spending bill without key amendments that would restore funding for public health programmes.Neither side backed down, resulting in the shutdown, which is now the second-longest in US history.It has been rare for government shutdowns in the past to last for longer than a few days, but they do happen sometimes.The last shutdown was during Trump’s first term as US president. Albeit only a partial shutdown, it was the longest in US history, lasting 35 days from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019. It was sparked by a row over the building of a wall along the border with Mexico and ended only when Trump announced a tentativ …
