The Brave News

by Samuel Rodriguez

The federal government’s shutdown occurred on December 22nd, 2018 and has set a record for the longest government shutdown in the modern era, surpassing the previous 21-day shutdown of 1995-96.

Credit // Kim Komando Show

Today, January 17th, marks the 27th day of the shutdown with no looks of it ending within the near future.

According to Business Insider, the shutdown seems to be due to a dispute between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats about funding for Trump’s border wall. However, the shutdown only affects a part of the government since 7 of the 12 bills that fund the government were passed in September.

Business Insider continues to say that some of the departments that have been affected by the shutdown are the departments of agriculture, homeland security, commerce, transportation, housing, and urban development.

The New York Times estimates that 800,000 federal workers are being affected by this shutdown while the loss of government services are affecting millions more. The shutdown has a widespread but uneven toll, affecting many American’s while going almost unnoticed by others. The New York Times continues to explain that President Trump waits for Democrats to accept his demand for $5.7 billion in funding for his border wall, which is highly unpopular.

The Trump administration has called back tens of thousands of federal workers to fulfill key government tasks in an attempt to numb the effects set upon by the shutdown. These workers are being put back to work without pay and, according to The New York Times, a typical federal worker has missed $5,000 in pay from the shutdown thus far.

“They’re not being paid right now because of the Democrats. People are impressed with how well the government is working with the circumstances we’re under,” stated President Donald Trump.

Even though many government officials are patiently waiting for the end of this shutdown to come, Democrats are asking Trump to reopen parts of the government that have nothing to do with the wall before they negotiate further on the issue, states The Washington Post. 

According to The New York Times, President Trump stated on Monday that he rejected a proposal by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to halt the shutdown for three weeks in an attempt to “breathe new life” into stalled talks with Democrats.

The shutdown looks to continue on as President Trump and the Democrats stand their ground and have not reached an agreement yet.