By Anwita Puttam – News Editor

On October 1, Congress failed to pass new spending bills as well as other short-term extensions. Because of this, many parts of the U.S. federal government shut down and people have been let go. All of this happened all because Congress wouldn’t pass a continuing resolution.

A continuing resolution, also known as a CR, is “a type of appropriations legislation, which allocates money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. This money provides funding for different operations, personnel, equipment, and activities.

The issue with this is the constant controversy following the CR. The CR can attach political demands, delay government operations, and alter spending in ways which can negatively affect the political and economical state of the U.S. Continuing the CR can cause a major disruption in how the government functions; it pushes back other projects the Congress has and causes political corruption.

While Congress not passing the CR was the right thing, since Trump had no right or reason to even try and pass it, the Democrats shutting down the federal government was way too harsh.

The general purpose of the federal government is to make sure the nation has a functioning and stable government. It’s in charge of taxes, providing national defense, promoting general welfare, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, regulating commerce, and conducting foreign policy. All of these key aspects of running a functional government and nation are all a part of the federal government. It’s a key part of the U.S. as a whole.

While the federal government being unable to function is one thing, the biggest issue from this is how it is affecting the federal workers and the people of the U.S. The federal shutdown has caused so many to lose their jobs as well as working without any pay. Roughly 900,000 federal employees have been let go while another two million are working without pay. It’s been over seven weeks – seven weeks not knowing when they’ll get their next paycheck.

This quarrel between the parties is causing so many to suffer in their daily lives.

As well as that, many air flights have been shut down due to the fact that most pilots are either working without pay or have decided to rebel and not work. Since the shutdown began on October 1, more than 2,700 flights have been canceled per day across the entire nation. These people are unable to get to places they need to be; they can’t even see their families.

While, yes, Congress has now started coming up with a compromise for this issue, the damage is already done. The government had too much pride, neither side wanting to compromise on the situation, and what happened? It harmed the people in irreversible ways.

The government can’t give people the income they missed.

The government can’t give them back their jobs.

The government can’t help them get home.

Our government officials need to step up and remember who they are supposed to be serving. The people of the U.S. have suffered enough from the government’s actions, but they still have hope things will change. Don’t make them lose that hope.