On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that the partial shutdown of the federal government would continue until his demand for funds to build a wall on the US-Mexico border was met.
The US government partially shut down on Saturday, December 22. Efforts to reopen closed agencies seem to be in vain as Trump remains persistent over his $5 billion bill for the wall.
The dispute over funding for a border wall led to the partial government shutdown. With Trumps backing, the House approved a bill that included $5 billion for the proposed wall, but the Senate did not, and Congress adjourned reconciling the bills.
I cant tell you when the government is going to reopen, Trump said, speaking after a Christmas Day video conference with US troops serving abroad. I can tell you its not going to reopen until we have a wall, a fence, whatever theyd like to call it. Ill call it whatever they want, but its all the same thing. Its a barrier from people pouring into the country, from drugs, Reuters reported.
He further said, If you dont have that (the wall), then were just not opening.
Funding for about a quarter of federal programmes expired on Friday midnight. If a deal is not reached to break the impasse, it is likely that the shutdown could stretch into 2019.
Trumps latest comments on the shutdown come a day after Democrats accused the president of plunging the country into chaos as top officials met to discuss a rout in the stock markets, which was partly caused by Trumps attacks on the Federal Reserve and a partial government shutdown.
Trump lashes out at Federal Reserve; Dow plummets
On Monday, Trump criticised the Federal Reserve, describing it as the only problem for the US economy, even as top officials convened the plunge protection team to discuss the growing rout in stock markets.
The Dow Jones plummeted 653 points in a shortened trading day on Monday, capping its worst week in a decade and marking its worst day of Christmas Eve trading ever.
Stock markets around the world continued a week-long sell-off on Friday amidst the threat of a US government shutdown and further hikes in US borrowing costs increased investor anxiety that global economic growth is slowing.
Japans Nikkei lost 1.1 per cent to close at its lowest since mid-September last year, after giving up 5.6 per cent this week. Australian stocks slipped 0.7 per cent, hovering just above a two-year trough hit earlier in the session.
Trump insists on building a border wall
The US President remained persistent in the amount of funds for his border wall. We want the wall money to be increased, Trump said, without mentioning whether the $5 billion bill was non-negotiable.
Trump also claimed that even those federal workers who were losing their paychecks would be supportive of his efforts.
I think they understand whats happening, he said. They want border security. The people of this country want border security. Its not a question of me. Id rather not be doing shutdowns, Politico reported.
However, Trumps claim conflicts with what federal workers union leaders have to say.
Federal employees should not have to pay the personal price for all of this dysfunction, said Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 members at 33 federal agencies and departments. This shutdown is a travesty. Congress and the White House have not done their fundamental jobs of keeping the government open, as per a report in the Washington Times.
Furthermore, the president said that the people of San Diego had asked for one.
People were walking through Mexico right into San Diego, right over peoples front lawns by the hundreds, by the thousands. And they came to us, they asked for a wall, Trump said, without offering any evidence for his statement, as per the Politico report.
What does a government shutdown mean?
Majority of the federal government receives its funding from annual budget appropriations that is decided by Congress. A significant part of the government has such funding in place. However, other federal agencies have been functioning on several temporary extensions since the fiscal year began on October 1, 2017.
The latest extension expired on Friday, December 22, at midnight. Since funding was not secured for these agencies, their shutdown process began on Saturday. A large number of employees working for federal agencies will be furloughed. They will be unpaid until spending authority is restored.
Whats the main issue here?
The biggest issue is funding for Trumps border wall. The US Presidents wall between USA and Mexico was his biggest issue in his presidential campaign.
Trump is now saying that he will allow the government to remain shut down if the spending package for the wall doesnt have $5 billion.
The Democrats have agreed to $1.67 billion for enhanced border security, but Trump is not satisfied. Meanwhile, some Democrats wondered why a deal was reached in the first place, especially one that didnt cover protections for dreamers, the undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.
How will federal employees be affected?
In the midst of a shutdown, at least 8,00,000 federal employees will be either furloughed or forced to work without pay in the run up to the Christmas holidays.
Furlough means that employees will be put on a leave of absence without pay. Congress can move to order that furloughed employees be paid retroactively after the shutdown is over, but that is not guaranteed.
Most NASA employees will be sent home, as will employees from the Commerce Department and many at the Departments of Home land Security, Justice, Agriculture, and State. National parks will remain open, but most park staffers might stay home.
As the impasse continued on Tuesday, federal employees took to Twitter to share their anxiety over having to spend Christmas without pay.
The role of Democrats
Republicans passed a spending bill that included an additional $5 billion for the wall last week, but the legislation was considered dead on arrival in the Senate where Democrats have said they would not support it.
Several familiar with the developments said that there were policy additions and restrictions included in the proposal to try to bridge the gap. However, Democrats said that the number and the details tied to it weren’t acceptable. After the meeting on Saturday, a spokesperson for Schumer said, “The Vice President came in for a discussion and made an offer. Unfortunately, we’re still very far apart,” CNN reported.
Shutdown likely to stretch into 2019?
The partial government shutdown is likely to stretch for more than two weeks, with negotiations at a stalemate and congressional leaders leaving town to spend Christmas with family.
Mick Mulvaney, the White Houses acting chief of staff, estimated, on Sunday, that it was very possible that the funding lapse would continue through 2019 and into the next Congress, when Democrats retake control of the House of Representatives.
On Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence presented a funding deal that would include $2.5 billion for border security, including new fencing and $400 million for other immigration priorities, according to two Democratic aides.
If Director Mulvaney says the Trump Shutdown will last into the New Year, believe him because its their shutdown, Justin Goodman, spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, told Politico.
Senior Republicans are now looking towards January as the likely end date for the shutdown. Some officials from the Republican Party predict nothing will budge until House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi becomes speaker. This could push the shutdown to early- to mid-January.
Shutdowns in the past
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, unofficially known as Obamacare) continued to be controversial for a number of reasons. In October 2013, the Republican Party, within the House of Representatives, attached a provision to a spending bill that required eliminating funding for the implementation of the PPACA in order to fund the rest of the U.S. Federal Government.
That bill was sent to the Senate. The Senate then struck out the provisions relating to defunding the PPACA, and sent it back to the House. The House then sent a version of the bill that delayed implementation of the Act for one year, and the Senate tabled the measure and did not take it up for consideration.
Since the Congress failed to pass a law to appropriate any funds after September 30, 2013, the Federal Government “shut down”.
In January 2018, Congress ended a three-day government shutdown as Senate Democrats buckled under pressure to adopt a short-term spending bill to fund government operations without first addressing the fate of young undocumented immigrants.
The House quickly approved the measure. The measure sought to fund the government until February 8 and extend funding for the popular Childrens Health Insurance Program for six years.
The federal government technically shut down in February for the second time in 2018. Congressional leaders had struck a deal that would fund the government through March 23 and set up a two-year budget agreement.
However, Senator Rand Paul tactically delayed the agreement to prevent the Senate from voting on the new proposal before a midnight deadline. The Senate did vote, eventually, and the spending plan was passed with 71 votes.
Democratic leaders wanted assurances that the House would advance legislation addressing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme that would provide protection from deportation to unauthorised immigrants brought to the United States as children.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had criticised the budget deal without an immigration agreement, speaking on the House floor for hours in a plea to resolve the issue. But the lower chamber managed to gather the votes, and the bill passed 240 to 186, thus ending the second government shutdown of 2018.
Elton Gomes is a staff writer at Qrius