explainer

For the 15th time since 1981, the United States government has shut down after Congress and the President failed to agree on budget legislation. The current funding block, which began Wednesday, pits Republican President Donald Trump against an emboldened Democratic opposition.

To the Democrats, it’s a fight over health care spending and an opportunity to obstruct Mr. Trump after their party has been effectively shut out of power in Washington for nine months. To the White House, it’s a chance to enact even deeper spending cuts and fire more public employees – or at least threaten to.

To government workers, it means being furloughed from their jobs or working without pay. And to the American people, it means a disruption in government services which will get worse the long

See Full Page