US Congress back to work as clock ticks on federal shutdown

A Government shutdown would halt many federal services, Photo / Andrew Harnik, AFP

US politicians have returned to work after more than a month off, with a countdown beginning as they rush to pass a temporary budget and ward off a federal Government shutdown before September 30.

The stakes are high: a shutdown would halt to many federal services, including some benefit payments, disruption to air traffic, and the furloughing of hundreds of thousands of civil servants.

President Donald Trump’s Republicans have a majority in both chambers of Congress, but because of Senate rules, will have to convince at least seven Democratic senators to vote for their budget.

It’s a tall order: Democrats have already warned that the Trump administration’s decision last week to cut nearly US$5 billion ($8.5b) in international aid could destroy any chance of talks.

“It is clear that Republicans are prioritising chaos over governing, partisanship over partnership, and their own power over the American people,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a letter to fellow Democrats.

He said the “only way” to avoid a shutdown is for Republicans to work with Democrats on the bill.

But it was far from certain that the White House would take such advice, having made virtually no concessions to Democrats since Trump returned to power in January.

Last time Congress faced a shutdown – in March of this year – Republicans refused talks with Democrats over massive budget cuts and the layoff of thousands of federal employees.

Ten Democratic senators, including Schumer, reluctantly voted for the bill to avoid the shutdown – provoking party supporters to accuse them of bowing to Trump and his radical agenda.

There is one glimmer of bipartisanship in Congress – but it will not be welcome to the White House, as it again stirs up the controversy of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein died in prison in 2019, awaiting trial for alleged sex trafficking of underage girls.

He and Trump were once friends, and US media has reported that the President’s name was among hundreds found in the so-called Epstein files, though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing.

Trump’s supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and held as an article of faith that “Deep State” elites were protecting Epstein associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood – but not Trump.

These supporters have been up in arms since the FBI and Justice Department said in July that Epstein had committed suicide, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a “client list”.

Since coming to power, Trump has repeatedly sought to shrug off allegations surrounding Epstein.

But Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie are expected to launch a push this week to force the House of Representatives to vote on publishing the Epstein files.

- Agence France-Presse