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United States experiences longest government shutdown in history
MARIAM HAMMA
LIFESTLYES & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
At midnight on Dec. 22, 2018, the United
States government shutdown for the third
time in 2018. As of Jan. 25, 2019, this
shutdown has become the longest one in
United States history, at 35 days.
Shutdowns occur when the president
does not sign the 12 appropriation bills
Congress comes up with. These bills decide
how much funding each government
agency will get. This specific government
shutdown occured when President Trump
and Congress could not agree to add $5.7
billion to the budget for a southern border
wall. Because Congress could not agree on
how to do this or even whether to do it, the
government shut down.
This shutdown is partial, meaning that
some parts of the government are still
functioning.
“Depending on the type of shutdown, it
affects different agencies,” history teacher
Mrs. Sarah Thomas said. “Since this one is
partial, it’s affected only certain agencies.”
A partial government shutdown causes
nonessential parts of the government to go
without funding. As for essential government
agencies, employees are required to go to
work but will not get paid until after the
shutdown ends.
“The government shutdown impacts a
lot of different areas, from national parks to
food inspection,” government and history
teacher Mrs. Christina Bettes said. “Many
government services, such as TSA, Social
Security, FBI and US Postal service, will still
run during the shutdown. However, many
employees who work during the government
shutdown are not currently getting paid.”
The first government shutdown occurred
in September of 1976 under President
Gerald Ford. In the years following that
federal closure, the government has shut
down a total of 21 times.
“The government has had other
shutdowns throughout history,” Mrs. Bettes
said. “For example, under President Carter,
President Reagan, President Bill Clinton and
President Obama, to name a few.”
Many people are upset about the
shutdown because it means that families
who depend on paychecks from government
agencies are not receiving their earned
income.
“It’s very unfair to federal employees,”
sophomore Abby Schreck said. “They are
going unpaid when many of them rely on
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the paychecks that they are about to miss this
week.”
Others are angry with the government
because they believe the shutdown could
have been avoided if representatives in
Congress were more willing to compromise.
“It’s honestly very sad that because our
Congress can’t get their act together, the
whole government is affected. Another
sad aspect is that this is happening because
people let their emotions run wild and won’t
calmly think, talk and compromise. It can be
argued that this nation was able to get this
far by making compromises.,” sophomore
Nate Kurokawa said. “However, until
congress realizes this, we are forced to wait
and hope.”
There are some students who do not
follow politics and were not aware that a
government closure was in effect. Once
sophomore Angelece Drainer learned of
the shutdown, she was confused as to how
something like this could happen.
“I didn’t know about the government
shutdown at first, but it seems a little
absurd,” Drainer said. “I can see that not
paying people for working will probably
negatively affect the work.”
In the beginning of January, President
Trump expressed that he could declare a
national emergency to get funds for the
border wall. However, on Jan. 11, the
president explained he is leaning away from
doing this.
“I could [declare a national emergency]
very quickly.” President Trump said,
addressing the nation in a Washington Post
video. “I have the absolute right to do it, but
I’m not going to do it so fast because this is
something Congress should do, and we’re
waiting for the Democrats to vote.”
In a press conference on Thursday,
Jan. 10, Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi, discussed what is currently going
on in Congress and between the House of
Representatives and the Senate.
“Next week, we’ll proceed with legislation
that did not pass the full Senate yet but
very strongly came out of committee,”
Speaker Pelosi said, according to a TIME
video. “We’re saying to them, ‘Take yes for
an answer, this is what you have proposed.
Why are you rejecting at the expense of the
health, safety and wellbeing of the American
people? Do you take an oath to the
constitution, or an oath to Donald Trump?’”