The United States has been plagued by a government shutdown for the past month. What's actually happening and how did it all start?
A government shutdown occurs when congress can’t agree on the federal budget. Basically, if Congress can’t agree on who gets how much money, nobody gets any money. Only “essential personnel” get paid. This includes essential military personnel as well as lawmakers such as senators and other representatives. In this case, over 800’000 government workers went unpaid, many of them having to rely on food banks, food stamps and homeless shelters to stay afloat.
“Over 800'000 workers went unpaid.”
Where it Began
It all started when Donald Trump demanded that congress give him 5.6 billion dollars in order to build a wall/fence/steel slats (we’re not sure what he really wants) on the U.S. – Mexico border. After the elections in November 2018, the congress has a Democratic majority and therefore, Trump’s demand was refused and a government shutdown started.
Ever since, bill after bill has come before congress in order to attempt to re-open the government but Republicans, under the leadership of Mitch McConnell have voted against any bill that doesn’t include funding for the border “wall” and democrats under Nancy Pelosi have voted against any bill that does include funding for the “wall”.
What's Happening Now
As such, the government is locked in a stalemate while hundreds of thousands of people go unpaid. This ordeal has caused Trump’s approval rating to plummet down to 34% and there have been numerous protests demanding that the government reopen.
Trump has just today (26th of January) declared an emergency action to re-open the government temporarily while congress debates the new budget. This will finally allow government workers to be paid but it is by no means the final solution. This emergency action will only last 3 weeks and after that, the government will shut down once again.
Meanwhile, the investigation into Trump’s links with the Russian government has broken new ground. Roger Stone, a man accused of helping create ties between Russian officials and Trump, was arrested at his home and is now being held by the special counsel. This is seen as a breakthrough arrest and many believe that members of Trump’s family might be next in line for arrest.
How do you feel about this situtation? Is it fair to not pay people their wages because politicians can't agree with each other? Tell us in the comments!
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