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Global perspective Sarah Houlton
Shutdown woes The US budget impasse left many federally funded activities paralysed and also affected research funding bodies
T
he antics of the US government continue to bemuse and frustrate us foreigners who didn’t grow up with the system – and, frankly,
a good proportion of Americans, too. The right-wing Tea Party fringe in Congress hate the Affordable Care Act – Obamacare – so much so they appeared to be trying to blackmail their way to getting it overturned. Obamacare has been passed by both Congress and the Senate, its legality has been confirmed by the Supreme Court and, for good measure, Obama won a convincing victory in the 2012 presidential election. Had the will of the people been anti- Obamacare, Mitt Romney would surely have won. But he didn’t. Somewhere around 17 October 2013, the country was due to hit its debt ceiling again, with no budget having been agreed since 2009, and the country struggling on through a range of temporary financial measures brought in because the two sides simply could not agree on one. Thankfully, that debt ceiling was extended just before C&I went press, but it remains a temporary measure. Since mid-October 2013, many federally funded activities deemed ‘non-essential’ remained paralysed until the agreement was reached. Hundreds of thousands of government employees were furloughed – given enforced unpaid leave – and, while after each of the 17 previous government shutdowns Congress has voted that they should be paid for that time regardless, it caused a lot of financial worry for those workers affected. The shut-down activities that gained
most media attention were the national parks, with widespread pictures of
weren’t working, but (perhaps fortunately) all the 111 staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board were – although if it had been an extended shutdown, 100 would have had to stop. The Chemical Safety and Hazard
‘The FDA continued with work involving the safety of life and property, and also on new applica- tions where user fees were already in the bank. But no new applications which re- quired pay- ment would have been looked at
until after the shutdown’
disappointed tourists unable to get into the attractions they’d travelled miles to visit. But there were many, many others. Ironically, a lot of the ongoing activi- ties under the Affordable Care Act contin- ued under the auspices of Medicare and Medicaid. But more than half of the De- partment of Health and Human Services’ near-80,000 employees were furloughed. This included many at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which continued with work involving the safety of life and property, and also any work on new applications where user fees were already in the bank. But no new applications that required payment were looked at until after the shutdown was over, unless the company had paid the user fee before the end of September 2013.
Other agencies involved in public health and safety have also been affected. More than 90% of employees at the Environmental Protection Agency were furloughed, aside from a few lab staff and emergency responders, but most of its activities were halted. The majority of the near-4000 employees of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Investigation Bureau was also badly impacted – of a staff of 40, only three weren’t furloughed, and investigations into industrial chemical spills and accidents were put on hold. Research funding bodies have not avoided the furlough, either. The National Science Foundation’s website turned into a holding page explaining the impact the shutdown would have on grants, contracts and deadlines. About a three-quarters of the National Institutes of Health’s near-60,000 employee roster was furloughed, with new clinical trials being delayed, and impacting on patients hoping to enrol in them.
Budgetary crisis was at last averted when the US government passed a bill to extend the debt ceiling just hours before the country risked default, with just a small Obamacare concession. But agreement on a full budget still seems light-years away – or at least a Democratic majority in Congress away. With Republican poll ratings having plummeted in the light of the Tea Party’s recent antics, that could come to pass in next November’s mid-term elections. Until such a time, the country is certain stagger on through further temporary budgetary measures.
Sarah Houlton is a chemicals writer based in Boston, US
Chemistry&Industry • November 2013 29
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Illustration/Simon Evans
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