‘Starting to become real’: as Washington bickers, America goes hungry

The US government shutdown barrelled towards its second month on Friday and the pain is spreading fast – with federal workers broke, food aid vanishing and millions of Americans caught in the crossfire.

What started on October 1 as a Washington sideshow has morphed into a slow-motion implosion of public services and a growing economic convulsion, with federal offices dark and President Donald Trump’s government stuck in neutral.

Republicans warned that millions will begin feeling the full force of the shutdown for the first time this weekend, as unresolved fights over funding for healthcare and food stamps make them hungrier and poorer.

“Most people haven’t noticed up until this week. Thanks to Donald Trump finding a way to pay our troops last month, that pain was delayed,” Republican House Whip Tom Emmer told Fox News. “But, starting this week … this is starting to become very real.”

At the heart of the fight is money to help Americans cover health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, better known as “Obamacare”.

Those subsidies – a lifeline for more than 20 million people – are set to expire at year’s end and, unless Congress acts, premiums will skyrocket by an eye-watering average of 114 per cent when the new sign-up period opens Saturday.