The United States Embassy in Bucharest announced on Tuesday the measures that will take effect after the American federal government entered a budgetary shutdown. The diplomatic mission specified that it will no longer update its Facebook page, and passport and visa services will continue „to the extent possible.”
„In the absence of allocated funds for carrying out activities, this Facebook page will no longer be updated until the full resumption of activities, except for urgent security and safety messages,” the US Embassy conveyed.
The institution added that "passport and visa services at US embassies and consulates abroad will continue during the period when there are no allocated funds, to the extent possible."
Citizens in need of additional information are directed to the official website travel.state.gov.
US Government Enters "Shutdown"
The government shutdown took effect at midnight Washington time (7:00 AM Romanian time) after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to reach an agreement on the federal budget. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of non-essential employees will be furloughed.
Trump threatened to fire even more federal employees if lawmakers do not quickly pass a bill to resume funding. However, his administration did not specify what cuts could be made.
Each year, Congress drafts laws regarding spending for government agencies, but rarely finalizes the process before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. Usually, temporary funding is approved, but the current act expired on September 30. Negotiations between Republicans and Democrats stalled, and the president did not sign any extension before the deadline.
The last US shutdown, which lasted from the end of December 2018 to the end of January 2019 during Donald Trump's first term, lasted 35 days, a record.
Given the very unpopular nature of such a situation, both Democrats and Republicans traditionally try to avoid this federal paralysis, sometimes at the last minute. However, in case of failure, each side tries to shift the blame onto the other.