The President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed into law on Wednesday night (12), the bill that . The signing ceremony took place just hours after the House of Representatives approved, by a margin of just 13 votes, the agreement that extends federal management funding until January 30.
Even so, it could take days – and even weeks – for the country to return to normal. Federal agencies are already authorized to reinstate employees who were on unpaid leave, but while most should return to work within 24 hours, factors such as the size of departments can delay this process.
The aviation system, for example, will need time to reorganize itself. The Department of Transport reported on Wednesday night that 40 airports will continue to see a 6% reduction in the number of flights, even with the resumption of activities.
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Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said authorities are assessing when it will be possible to safely return to normal air traffic operations, but gave no timeline. “If the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety team determines that trends are moving in the right direction, we will present a plan to resume normal operations,” Duffy said.
The decision to reduce flights was announced last week by the FAA, due to the dwindling number of air traffic controllers available due to the shutdown. Since last Friday, the 7th, more than 10 thousand trips have already been cancelled, according to data from the flight tracking website FlightAware.
The normalization of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance payments will also not be immediate. One of the points of the bill sanctioned by Trump covers precisely the resumption of the benefit, but does not determine when it will be paid again.
The Department of Agriculture, responsible for SNAP, said that, in most states, the amounts could be made available within 24 hours after the end of the federal government shutdown, but did not specify in which regions the process would take longer.
The agreement that brought the end of shutdown it also provides for the reversal of the layoffs of federal employees, promoted by the Trump administration since the beginning of the government shutdown, in addition to protecting them from further layoffs until January. Professionals also have retroactive payment guaranteed by the Fair Treatment of Public Employees Law, approved in 2019.
The extension of a tax credit that reduces health insurance costs, which expires in December, was one of Democrats’ main demands, but was not included in the bill. The matter should be returned to Congress by mid-December.
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The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the negative impact of shutdown in the economy will be partially reversed, but even so, there will be a permanent economic loss of around US$11 billion.
