As per a top the Republican Party representative, from the House of Representatives, the acidic squabbling between his party members and the Democrats–over the US federal regime budget, besides the debt upper limit–have killed any prospects of an all-inclusive immigration improvement this year.
According to some reports, a significant section of the nation’s federal administration was closed down for as many as 16 days–between October 1, 2013 & October 17, 2013—allegedly because the Congress failed to authorize a budget for the national federal administration. Though the Congress ought to endorse the federal budget every year–thanks to the growing animosity between the two key political groups–they couldn’t strike a deal by the October 1, 2013 cut-off date.
Global Economy Endangered
Besides, the Congress was under a great pressure to reach a deal on the nation’s levels of debt. Minus that accord, the nation would have been left with no options except to transgress on servicing its huge global debts. Some financial advisors forecasted that such a development may have pushed the global economy back towards slump.
For those not tuned in, or who came in late, the US Congress comprises of two houses, namely, the Senate & the House of Representatives, even as it’s imperative that both the houses cast their votes for any plan so that the same becomes a law. Since the Democrats exercise control over the Senate, the same was comparatively keener and more inspired to sanction the federal budget needed by the incumbent Democrat president, vis-à-vis the House, the power of which rests with the Republicans.
The result: the Republicans in the House avoided supporting the federal budget or the debt even as it made serious efforts to bulldoze the president to introduce cuts to his much publicized health insurance scheme, in exchange of their endorsement. Barack Obama, however, declined to discuss over the said scheme claiming that to do the same would be to succumb to naked extortion.
Federal administration closure
As a consequence, the President and Congress failed to reach any accord for more than 14 days. Several federal administration workers had to leave their jobs till the time the argument was duly settled. And many public places–such as parks, memorials, not to mention museums–were shut down for the common man. Still, the incident did not have any negative effects whatsoever on the US immigration body as the fee returns from citizenship & permit petitions duly fund them.
Ultimately, the House Republicans concurred to support a federal budget even while they gave their approval for the US administration’s debt until 2014. This is another matter altogether that the widely reported quarrel has not done any good to their respective images before the world community, and much more importantly, further widened the chasm between them.
