Xinhua Headlines: U.S. records longest gov't shutdown as partisan gridlock still intensifies

* While both parties remain entrenched in a war of words, the impact of the record-breaking U.S. government shutdown has continued to spread, dealing a heavy blow to multiple areas of everyday life.

* "The shutdown weakens global opinion towards the United States and makes it look like our leaders are incompetent. Other nations will argue America does not know how to govern itself," an expert said.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government shutdown made history once again on Wednesday, reaching its 36th day and surpassing the previous record of 35 days set by the administration of President Donald Trump during the 2018-2019 closure, as intensifying partisan gridlock has no end in sight.

MOUNTING PARTISAN TENSIONS

A short-term funding bill proposed by Republicans, after passing the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress, failed in the Senate on Tuesday for the 14th time to obtain the 60 votes required for approval. Meanwhile, House leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties continued to trade blame, showing no signs of compromise.

"Republicans refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which is going to result in tens of millions of Americans experiencing dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the lower chamber, warned at a press conference.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, the top Republican in the chamber, meanwhile, told a separate press conference that "the Schumer shutdown was never about health care or any other policy," referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Greg Cusack, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, noted there was little evidence of any bi-partisanship or good-faith negotiations within Congress these days or between the White House and Congress.

Many see this shutdown as a chance for the Trump administration to pursue its goal of streamlining the government and cutting spending by reducing the workforce. Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought estimated that the shutdown could result in the elimination of more than 10,000 federal jobs.

Some analysts believe Democrats view the shutdown fight as an opportunity to push their policy agenda and consolidate party solidarity.

Having taken a hard line against Republicans over health care spending -- a stance that triggered the shutdown -- Democrats are equally reluctant to back down, fearing it would make them appear inconsistent or weak.

EXPANDING SHUTDOWN IMPACT

While both parties remain entrenched in a war of words, the impact of the record-breaking U.S. government shutdown has continued to spread, dealing a heavy blow to multiple areas of everyday life, including aviation safety and food assistance programs.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday cautioned against widespread air flight cancellations if air traffic controllers go without a second full paycheck next week. About 13,000 air traffic controllers and roughly 50,000 airport security officers are forced to work without pay nationwide.

On Wednesday, Duffy said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will reduce airline traffic by 10 percent at 40 locations beginning Friday. "We're not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us, we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating," Duffy said at a joint press conference with FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.

"I'm not aware, in my 35-year history in the aviation market, where we've had a situation where we're taking these kinds of measures," said Bedford.

Data from the U.S. flight-tracking website FlightAware shows that thousands of flights nationwide incur delays daily. More than 4,000 flights within, into, or out of the United States were delayed on Tuesday, following nearly 5,000 delays on Monday.

A widely watched food assistance program has also been impacted. After interventions by two federal judges, the Trump administration announced on Monday that it would use emergency funds to maintain half of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for this month. Some states may take weeks or even months to resume full distributions. On Tuesday, however, Trump wrote on social media that relief funds would be distributed only after the government reopens.

The program covers 42 million Americans, or roughly one-eighth of the national population, most of them living below the poverty line. Democrats have accused Trump of "weaponizing hunger."

In addition, roughly 1.4 million federal employees remain without pay, with some forced to line up for free food assistance, potentially leading to reduced consumer spending.

VICTIMIZING ECONOMIC GROWTH AND BEYOND

A delay in releasing key economic data has heightened economic uncertainty. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell recently said it remains unclear whether the ongoing government shutdown and the resulting lack of crucial economic data will affect the Fed's December policy rate decision. "What do you do if you're driving in a fog? You slow down," Powell said.

The U.S. Congressional Budget Office recently warned that, depending on the duration of the shutdown, the annualized growth rate of U.S. real GDP in the fourth quarter could decline by 1 to 2 percentage points. A six-week stretch would result in 11 billion U.S. dollars in economic losses, and 14 billion dollars for a span of eight weeks.

Public sentiment has declined markedly during the shutdown. A recent Gallup poll showed that public approval of Congress has dropped to 15 percent, with nearly 80 percent of U.S. adults disapproving of its performance.

According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, 68 percent of Americans said the Democratic Party is out of touch with the concerns of most citizens, while 61 percent said the same about the Republican Party.

"The polling I've seen suggests that nobody is happy with the shutdown or with either party," Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, told Xinhua.

Some analysts say the federal government shutdown has seriously damaged U.S. national credibility.

Jason Furman, who served as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama administration, noted that the shutdown is emblematic of a broader erosion of both domestic and international confidence in the U.S. government and financial systems.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West voiced similar concern. "The shutdown weakens global opinion towards the United States and makes it look like our leaders are incompetent. Other nations will argue America does not know how to govern itself," West told Xinhua.

SYSTEMIC FAILURES

Mounting political polarization and power struggles between Democrats and Republicans have made government shutdown a recurring feature of U.S. politics. Observers believe that the prolonged shutdowns stem from both parties' unwillingness to yield in a "game of chicken," as they focus on gauging public opinion and calculating their political gains, often placing partisan interests above the welfare of citizens, exposing the failures of the U.S. system.

The first and partial federal government shutdown in U.S. history occurred in 1976. Congressional data show 15 shutdowns since 1980. Experts note that recent shutdowns have become increasingly politicized, highlighting the deepening divisions between the two parties.

Duke University's political science professor David Rohde observed that earlier government shutdowns tended to center on bargaining over routine government activities, and "there was a lot less political heat."

Douglas W. Elmendorf, former Harvard Kennedy School dean and former director of the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, blamed the growing frequency of shutdowns on the lawmakers' lack of appetite for compromise. "The increasing polarization that we see has increased the likelihood of shutdowns and the length of shutdowns."

Reed Galen, co-founder of the American political organization The Lincoln Project, said the United States "does not face the specter of a government shutdown every September because of policy disagreements or financial constraints, but because the democratic accountability has been so eroded that elected officials have no incentive to compromise -- to do the hard work of politics -- and devise real solutions."

(Video reporters: Hu Yousong, Xie E, Xiong Maoling, Yang Ling; Video editors: Zhang Yichi, Zhang Yuhong, Wang Han) ■