WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The longest U.S. government shutdown in history has finally been ended, yet the harm done to the country has not come to a full stop.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday night passed a Senate-approved spending package, breaking the congressional deadlock that had led to the shutdown since Oct. 1. The legislation was later signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump. It stipulates funds for most government agencies through the end of January next year and three years of appropriations for other government institutions.
During the 43-day shutdown, due to the government's failure to provide financial support to airport staff, including air traffic controllers, approximately 5.2 million passengers were affected by flight delays or cancellations, according to Airlines for America, an industry trade organization for leading U.S. airlines.
Moreover, at least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, while roughly 730,000 continued to work without pay, according to data from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank.
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West said low-income Americans relying on food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), "have gone hungry" because the aid was suspended during the shutdown.
"The entire episode has harmed American prestige around the world because it looks like the country is unable to govern itself," he told Xinhua.
Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, noted that people receiving SNAP benefits have entered November confused about whether they are still available.
Because air traffic controllers were stretched to the breaking point and increased underlying risk, "we have all been lucky to this point," said Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland.
Cuts in SNAP benefits had put "strain on private food banks, which are already trying to help unpaid federal workers," he added.
Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Xinhua the biggest economic impacts of the shutdown stem from the cancellations of air flights, which apparently will continue through the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of this month, the busiest air travel season of the year.
Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Xinhua: "The main effect is that it could shave 0.1 to 0.2 (percentage points) off the quarter's growth, mostly due to federal employees not working."
The shutdown took place amid bitter partisan rivalry that had defined Washington for nearly two decades. Experts warn that it is reasonable to expect another shutdown when a new budget needs to be passed next year.
"Polarization is likely to continue because the very divisions which propelled the shutdown are still in place," said West. "People don't trust their opponents or have much confidence in government." ■