It's Official: Government Shutdown Becomes Longest in US History |
Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=39697"><span class="small">Arnie Seipel, NPR</span></a> |
Saturday, 12 January 2019 09:30 |
Seipel writes: "The partial government shutdown is now the longest in history, as Saturday marks day 22. The previous record was 21 days, set in the winter of 1995-'96 when President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich were at odds over budget cuts."
ALSO SEE: It Could Take Years for These Workers to Recover From It's Official: Government Shutdown Becomes Longest in US History12 January 19
Congress went home for the weekend, as some 800,000 federal workers are on furlough, and many have now gone without their first paycheck. Mortgages are held up, security personnel at airports are strained, Coast Guard families line up at a food pantry, and a large majority of the country says they feel the shutdown is "embarrassing." President Trump and Democrats have not been negotiating since the president abruptly walked out of a meeting on Wednesday, but on Friday he held off on declaring a national emergency as an end-run around Congress. Still, the White House is looking for money it could shift around to fund wall construction under an emergency declaration. Here's the latest on the shutdown and its impact:
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