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The United States federal government
shutdown Shutdown or shut down may refer to: * Government shutdowns * Shutdown (computing) * Shutdown (economics) * Shutdown (nuclear reactor) Arts and entertainment Music * "Shut Down" (The Beach Boys song), 1963 * '' Shut Down Volume 2'', a 1964 album ...
from midnight EST on December 22, 2018, until February 9, 2019 (35 days) was the longest government shutdown in US history and the second and final federal government shutdown involving furloughs during the
first presidency of Donald Trump Donald Trump's first tenure as the president of the United States began on January 20, 2017, when Trump First inauguration of Donald Trump, was inaugurated as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president, and ended on January ...
. It occurred when the
115th Congress The 115th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 2017, to January ...
and Trump could not agree on an
appropriations bill An appropriation bill, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature ...
to fund the operations of the federal government for the 2019 fiscal year, or a temporary
continuing resolution In the United States, a continuing resolution (often abbreviated to CR) is a type of appropriations legislation, which allocates money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operation ...
that would extend the deadline for passing a bill. The
Antideficiency Act The Antideficiency Act (ADA) () is legislation enacted by the United States Congress to prevent the incurring of obligations or the making of expenditures (outlays) in excess of amounts available in appropriations or funds. The law was initially ...
prohibits federal departments or agencies from conducting non-essential operations without appropriations legislation in place. As a result, nine executive departments with around 800,000 employees had to shut down partially or in full, affecting about one-fourth of government activities and causing employees to be furloughed or required to work without being paid. The
Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. I ...
estimated the shutdown cost the American economy at least $11 billion
USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
, excluding indirect costs that were difficult to quantify. The shutdown stemmed from an impasse over Trump's demand for $5.7 billion in federal funds for a U.S.–Mexico border wall. In December 2018, the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
unanimously passed an appropriations bill without wall funding, and the bill appeared likely to be approved by the Republican-controlled
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
and Trump. After Trump faced heavy criticism from some right-wing media outlets and pundits for appearing to back down on his campaign promise to " build the wall", he announced that he would not sign any appropriations bill that did not fund its construction. As a result, the House passed a stopgap bill with funding for the wall, but it was blocked in the Senate by the threat of a Democratic
filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...
. In January 2019, representatives elected in the November 2018 election took office, giving the Democrats a majority in the House. The House immediately voted to approve the appropriations bill that had previously passed the Senate unanimously (which included no funding for the wall). For several weeks, Trump continued to maintain that he would veto any bill that did not fund an entire border wall, and Republican
Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the ...
Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...
blocked the Senate from considering any appropriations legislation that Trump would not support, including the bill that had previously passed. Democrats and some Republicans opposed the shutdown and passed multiple bills to reopen the government, arguing that the government shutdown amounted to taking
civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
s "hostage" and that negotiations could only begin once the government was reopened. On January 25, 2019, Trump agreed to endorse a stopgap bill to reopen the government for three weeks up until February 15 to allow for negotiations to take place to approve an appropriations bill that both parties could agree on. However, Trump reiterated his demand for the border wall funding and said that he would shut down the government again or declare a national emergency and use military funding to build the wall if Congress did not appropriate the funds by February 15. Trump's approval rating dropped during the shutdown. A majority of Americans opposed exploitation of the shutdown as a negotiating strategy and held Trump responsible for the shutdown: A CBS News poll found that 71% of Americans considered the border wall "not worth the shutdown" and a ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''/
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
poll found that 53% of Americans blamed Trump and Republicans for the shutdown, compared to 34% who blamed Democrats and 10% who blamed both parties. On February 15, 2019, Trump declared a national emergency to fund the wall and bypass Congress, after being unsatisfied with a
bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing Political party, politica ...
border bill that had passed the House and the Senate a day before.


Background

During his 2016 campaign, then-candidate Trump promised to build a wall along the
Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...
for which Mexico would pay. The
president of Mexico The president of Mexico (), officially the president of the United Mexican States (), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and ...
rejected the idea of providing any funding for a U.S. border wall. In 2018, Trump requested $ in federal funding for some of barrier on the border, mostly to replace of aging fence built under the Secure Fence Act of 2006. On December 25, 2018, Trump reversed course, suggesting that he might accept of either mostly refurbished barrier (rather than new barriers in locations that did not previously have them) by November 2020. Trump's proposals and public statements on the wall have shifted widely over time, with varied proposals as to the design, material, length, height, and width of a wall. In September 2018, Congress passed two "
minibus A minibus, microbus, or minicoach is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is us ...
" appropriations bills for the 2019 United States federal budget, which began on October 1, 2018. These bills combined five of the 12 regular appropriations bills covering 77% of federal discretionary funding, and included a
continuing resolution In the United States, a continuing resolution (often abbreviated to CR) is a type of appropriations legislation, which allocates money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operation ...
until December 7 for the remaining agencies. On December 6, Congress passed a second continuing resolution to December 21, to give more time for negotiations on Trump's proposed border wall, which had been delayed due to the funeral of George H. W. Bush. A Senate Homeland Security appropriations bill, negotiated by both parties and reported by the committee to the Senate, provided for $ for border security, including funds for "approximately 65 miles of pedestrian fencing along the southwest border in the Rio Grande Valley Sector". The bill did not receive a vote on the Senate floor, although House Democratic Whip
Steny Hoyer Steny Hamilton Hoyer ( ; born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and retired attorney who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1981. He also served as House Majority Leader from 2007 to 20 ...
indicated that such a proposal could be acceptable to House Democrats.
Senate Minority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the ...
Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...
(D-NY) said the Democratic Party would not support $ for the border wall. At a press conference before the government shutdown, he noted "the $1.6 billion for border security negotiated by Democrats and Republicans is our position. We believe that is the right way to go."


Beginning of shutdown

On December 11, President Trump held a televised meeting with Speaker-designate
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...
and Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...
in the
Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...
and asked them to support an appropriation of $5.7 billion for funding of a border wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico. They refused, resulting in an argument between Trump and both Congressional leaders. During the contentious discussion, Trump remarked, "I am proud to shut down the government for border security ... I will be the one to shut
he government He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
down. I'm not going to blame you for it ... I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down." Schumer replied, "We shouldn't shut down the government over a dispute." Ten days later, Trump blamed Democrats for the impending shutdown. Three days later, ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
'' reported that Trump was willing to sign a bill with no funding for a border wall that delayed a government shutdown into 2019 and the new Congress. On December 18, following a meeting with Trump, Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...
said that the government would not shut down on December 22 and that Trump was "flexible" over funding for a border wall.
Senate Appropriations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee is the largest committ ...
Chairman
Richard Shelby Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Alabama from 1987 to 2023. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat, Shelby switched to the Republican Party i ...
commented that the most likely resolution was a bill that funded the government until early February. Schumer added that his caucus would "very seriously" consider such a bill and Senate Majority Whip
John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. ...
said "I don't know anybody on the Hill that wants a shutdown, and I think all the president's advisers are telling him this would not be good." On December 19, the Senate passed a second continuing resolution () that would fund the government until February 8, 2019. Pelosi announced that House Democrats would support the measure, meaning it would overcome opposition from conservative Republicans and pass the House. On December 20, following increased criticism from conservative media, pundits, and political figures, Trump reversed his position and declared that he would not sign any funding bill that did not include border wall funding. The same day, the House passed a continuing resolution that included $5 billion for the wall and $8 billion in disaster aid. This bill failed in the Senate. Trump's changing position caused consternation among Senate Republicans.


Shutdown

The shutdown started December 22 and Trump announced that he would cancel his planned trip to
Mar-a-Lago Mar-a-Lago ( , ) is a resort and National Historic Landmark on a barrier island in Palm Beach, Florida, United States. It spans 126 rooms and built on of land. Since 1985, it has been owned by Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of t ...
for Christmas and stay in Washington, D.C. The meaning of the term "wall" was expected to be an aspect of the negotiations.


Legislation


115th Congress

Congress adjourned on December 22 for the
Christmas and holiday season The Christmas season or the festive season, also known as the holiday season or the holidays, is an annual period generally spanning from November or December to early January. Incorporating Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the various celebrat ...
, with many predicting that the shutdown would not be resolved until the start of the
116th Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate, Senate and the United States House of Representati ...
. The Senate reconvened on December 27 for four minutes, with Senator
Pat Roberts Charles Patrick Roberts (born April 20, 1936) is a retired American politician and journalist who served as a United States senator from Kansas from 1997 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Roberts served 8 terms in the U.S. House of R ...
(R-KS) presiding over the session. The House briefly reconvened as well, with Majority Whip
Steve Scalise Stephen Joseph Scalise ( ; born October 6, 1965) is an American politician who has been the House majority leader since 2023 and the U.S. representative for since 2008. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was ...
(R-LA) saying that members should not expect any further votes for the rest of 2018. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) went to the House floor to try to force consideration of a short-term funding bill to end the shutdown that the Senate had already passed, but the Republican Speaker-pro-tem refused to let him speak. Congress then adjourned again until December 31, 2018, for a ''
pro forma The term ''pro forma'' (Latin for "as a matter of form" or "for the sake of form") is most often used to describe a practice or document that is provided as a courtesy or satisfies minimum requirements, conforms to a norm or doctrine and tend ...
'' session. On January 2, 2019, the last full day of the
115th United States Congress The 115th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 2017, to January ...
, there was a ''pro forma'' session scheduled to last several minutes.


116th Congress


=House

= The new Congress was sworn in on January 3, 2019, and one of the first orders of business in the House after electing the Speaker and swearing in the new members was a continuing resolution to fund the
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...
until February 8 (), which passed by a vote of 239–192; and a package combining five appropriation bills funding the rest of the government for the remainder of the fiscal year (), passed by a vote of 241–190. The bills contained $1.3 billion of funding for border security, but no additional funding for a border wall. Beginning on January 9, the Democratic-controlled House voted on four appropriations bills individually: * Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2019 () – bill to restore appropriations to the
Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...
(including the
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
), federal judiciary, District of Columbia, and a number of independent agencies, including the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
,
Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...
,
General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...
, and
Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...
. The House passed the legislation on January 9, on a 240–188 vote, with every Democrat and eight Republicans voting yes, and all other Republicans voting no.Ashley Killough & Clare Foran
House passes bill to reopen IRS and other financial agencies, despite veto threat
, CNN (January 1, 2009).
The Latest: House passes bill to fund agencies amid shutdown
, Associated Press (January 9, 2019).
* Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 () – bill to restore appropriations to the
Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
(including food stamps), the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
, and related entities. On January 10, the House passed this bill 243–183.Ashley Killough
House passes bills to reopen Agriculture, Transportation departments
, CNN (January 10, 2019).
Lindsey McPherson
Republican defections on House spending bills to end shutdown tick up
, ''Roll Call'' (January 10, 2019).
* Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 () – bill to restore
Transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
and
Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and u ...
(including some federal mortgage programs). On January 10, the House passed this bill 244–180. * Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019 () – bill to restore appropriations to the Interior Department, Environmental Protection Agency, and other agencies, including the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
. On January 11, ten House Republicans voted with Democrats in a 240–179 vote to end the shutdown of Interior-Environment programs. It was the most recent of a "series of standalone appropriations measures" the House sent to the Senate. This strategy has been compared to one used by Republicans during the 2013 shutdown in the form of a series of fourteen mini-continuing resolutions.


=Senate

= Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...
vowed that the Senate would not consider the House bills to reopen the government, indicating that Senate Republicans would not support any bill unless it had Trump's support. In January 2019, McConnell and Senate Republicans came under increased pressure to break the impasse and reopen the government. Three Republican Senators—
Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of ...
of Maine,
Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Alaska, having held the seat since 2002. She is the first woman ...
of Alaska, and
Cory Gardner Cory Scott Gardner (born August 22, 1974) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2015 to 2021. A Republican, he was the U.S. representative for Colorado's 4th congressional district from ...
of Colorado—called for an end to the shutdown. Senators Collins and Gardner said they supported the House's budget bills to end the shutdown. West Virginia Senator
Shelley Moore Capito Shelley Wellons Moore Capito ( ; born November 26, 1953) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from West Virginia. A member of the ...
said that she could support ending the shutdown provided border wall talks continued.
Pat Roberts Charles Patrick Roberts (born April 20, 1936) is a retired American politician and journalist who served as a United States senator from Kansas from 1997 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Roberts served 8 terms in the U.S. House of R ...
of Kansas said that shutdowns "never work" and only turned affected federal workers into "pawns" and that, although the time had not yet come for Senate Republicans to override any possible Trump veto and end the shutdown, "we're getting pretty close."
Johnny Isakson John Hardy Isakson (December 28, 1944 – December 19, 2021) was an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Georgia from 2005 until his resignation in 2019 following health concerns. A member of the Republi ...
of Georgia echoed that sentiment, saying that support for McConnell's refusal to support bills that do not include funding for a wall would not last indefinitely: "There's a time when that may run out." On January 16, McConnell again blocked the House appropriation bills to reopen the government from being considered on the Senate floor. The following day, McConnell blocked consideration of bills to reopen most of the closed government agencies for a third time. On January 23, McConnell blocked a bill to reopen most of the government for the fourth time. On January 22, McConnell stated that the Senate would be voting on two different bills to end the shutdown on January 24. The first vote is on a bill to reopen the government which includes Trump's proposal to provide $5.7 billion for a border wall and temporary protections to some immigration classes. The other bill is a three-week continuing resolution to fund 25% of the government through February 8. On January 22, Senator
Mark Warner Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th gove ...
introduced a bill to keep the federal government running in the event of future shutdown events. The bill is called the "Stop Shutdowns Transferring Unnecessary Pain and Inflicting Damage in the Coming Years Act" or the "Stop STUPIDITY Act".


Late January legislative votes

On January 24, the Senate held two votes on competing Democratic and Republican proposals to end the shutdown. The Democratic proposal was largely similar to the measure that had previously passed the Senate unanimously in the 115th Congress, and then been passed by the Democratic-controlled House in the 116th Congress. It provided funding for the government with no money for the border wall. The Republican proposal incorporated Trump's proposal, which would fund a border wall; temporarily extend TPS and DACA for three years, but would substantially narrow eligibility for DACA; and make significant legal changes to make it more difficult for persons escaping violence and persecution to be granted
asylum in the United States The United States recognizes the right of asylum for individuals seeking protections from persecution, as specified by international and federal law. People who seek protection while outside the U.S. are termed refugees, while people who se ...
. Neither proposal was able to attain the 60 votes needed for passage. The Trump plan failed in a 50–47 vote. The Democratic plan failed in a 52–44 vote. Most Republicans voted for Trump's plan and against the Democratic plan. Most Democrats voted for the Democratic plan and against Trump's plan. Republicans
Tom Cotton Thomas Bryant Cotton (born May 13, 1977) is an American politician and United States Army, Army veteran serving since 2015 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Arkansas. A memb ...
and
Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Lee became Utah's senior senator in 2019, whe ...
voted against both plans. Democrat Joe Manchin and Republicans
Lamar Alexander Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee from 1 ...
,
Susan Collins Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of ...
,
Cory Gardner Cory Scott Gardner (born August 22, 1974) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2015 to 2021. A Republican, he was the U.S. representative for Colorado's 4th congressional district from ...
,
Johnny Isakson John Hardy Isakson (December 28, 1944 – December 19, 2021) was an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Georgia from 2005 until his resignation in 2019 following health concerns. A member of the Republi ...
,
Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Alaska, having held the seat since 2002. She is the first woman ...
and
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
voted for both plans. Not voting on either were Republicans
Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
and
Jim Risch James Elroy Risch ( ; born May 3, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Idaho since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as lieutenant governor of Idaho under governors ...
and Democrat
Jacky Rosen Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen (née Spektor; born August 2, 1957) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Nevada since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party ...
. Republican
Richard Burr Richard Mauze Burr (born November 30, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from North Carolina from 2005 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Burr was previously a member of the United Stat ...
voted for Trump's plan and did not vote on the Democratic plan. On January 25, House Democrats prepared a compromise proposal to reopen the government, which would provide $5 billion for border security but no wall construction. However, the shutdown ended the same day.


Negotiations

On January 4, after the new Congress was sworn-in and Pelosi regained the speakership, she and Schumer, as well as congressional Republican leadership met with Trump at the White House.Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman
President Trump Rejects Proposal to Temporarily Reopen the Government
,
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
(January 14, 2019).
Pelosi and Schumer argued that the shutdown needed to end and reported that Trump refused. They said that Trump threatened to "keep the government closed for a very long period of time. Months or even years." Later that day, Trump admitted to "absolutely" making that threat, adding, "I'm very proud of doing what I'm doing." Trump then said that he was considering declaring a
national emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
to use
military funding This is a list of countries with highest military expenditures. Highest military expenditure The first list is based on the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) fact sheet, which includes a list of the world's top 40 militar ...
for the wall. At the meeting, Trump reprimanded his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney for attempting to propose a compromise between Trump's $5.7 billion demand for a border wall and the Democrats' proposal of $1.3 billion for border security. Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office at 9 p.m. EST on January 8, in a nationally televised address broadcast on both network and cable television. In his speech, Trump asserted that there was a "growing humanitarian and security crisis" on the Mexico–United States border that could only be solved by appropriating $5.7 billion for construction of a steel wall.Philip Rucker & Felicia Sonmez
Trump calls wall only solution to 'growing humanitarian crisis' at border
,
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
(January 8, 2019).
Trump did not make any new proposals in his speech to break the impasse. Immediately after Trump's speech, Schumer and Pelosi delivered a response on behalf of the Democrats, in which they demanded an end to the shutdown and said: "President Trump must stop holding the American people hostage, must stop manufacturing a crisis and must reopen the government."


January 9 meeting

Trump met with congressional leadership again on January 9, in a meeting lasting 14 minutes. Trump asked Pelosi, "Will you agree to my wall?" and when she replied that she would not, Trump said "bye-bye" and walked out of the meeting, later declaring it "a total waste of time". Schumer accused Trump of throwing a "temper tantrum" and slamming his hands on the table. Trump rebuked Schumer's comments on Twitter.
Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
and House Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...
said that Trump remained calm and never raised his voice. On January 10, Pelosi described the preceding day's meeting with Trump as "a setup" staged by White House aides so that Trump could walk out of the meeting. Pelosi described Trump as "un-presidential"; accused him of "exploiting this situation in a way that enhances his power"; and said: "I don't think he really wants a solution. I think he loves the distraction." After Trump walked out of the January 9 meeting with congressional Democratic leaders, no further negotiations were conducted. Several Republican senators met in the office of South Carolina Senator
Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...
, a close Trump ally, after the meeting to discuss a compromise to end the shutdown. They discussed agreeing to Trump's demand for border wall funding and offering the Democrats help for Dreamers, refugee protections and extensions to H-2B visas. On January 13, Graham proposed that Trump agree to a congressional vote to reopen the government pending the resumption of negotiations. Graham suggested that if Trump and congressional Democrats did not come to an agreement at that time, Trump could declare a national emergency. Trump rejected this proposal the next day.


Trump's proposal

On January 19, Trump proposed a temporary extension of the two programs that protect about 700,000 immigrants from deportation— Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a Immigration policy of the United States, United States immigration policy that allows some individuals who, on June 15, 2012, were physically present in the United States with no lawful immigra ...
(DACA)—in exchange for funding for the border wall. The protections would be temporary, with no path to citizenship. Trump had previously revoked TPS for people from a number of Latin American and African countries, and taken steps to rescind DACA. In his remarks at the White House, Trump referred to a "barrier" rather than a "wall" and indicated that he aimed to erect "steel barriers in high priority locations" rather than "a 2,000-mile concrete structure from sea to sea". In addition to funding a border wall, the 1,300-page Republican bill released after Trump made his proposal would make major changes to U.S. immigration policy (which were not included in Trump's public announcement).Joel Rose
The Border Wall Isn't The Only Reason Democrats Oppose Plan To End The Shutdown
, NPR (January 22, 2019).
Ted Hesson
Republicans load spending bill with hard-line measures targeting asylum
, ''Politico'' (January 22, 2019).
The legislation would severely restrict the ability of children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to apply for asylum in the United States. Specifically, participation in the Central American Minors Program would be subject to an annual cap and migrant children would be barred from applying for asylum in person at the border, and only migrant children with a "qualified" parent in the U.S. would be eligible to apply. The bill would also create a new, more burdensome application process for TPS holders, and would exclude TPS holders from Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen. The American Immigration Lawyers Association government relations director said that the proposal "would categorically block tens of thousands of children from ever applying for asylum", while a
Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch ...
immigration analyst wrote that the proposal would not extend DACA, but rather replace it with "a totally different program that will exclude untold thousands of Dreamers who would have been eligible under DACA". Democrats rejected Trump's proposal. In a speech on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said: "The president's proposal is one-sided, harshly partisan and was made in bad faith. The asylum changes are a poison pill, if there ever was one." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said extending the DACA proposal temporarily was "unacceptable" and a "non-starter" because it did not "represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people's lives". Analysts pointed out that Trump had previously rejected a deal that would have provided funding for the border wall in exchange for further protection for DACA recipients. Conversely, Republicans reacted positively to Trump's proposal, and Mitch McConnell said he would bring it to a vote in the Senate.


Related disputes


Trump's threat to declare national emergency

During the shutdown, on January 8 in a press conference, a reporter asked Trump if he was considering declaring a
national emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
, to which Trump replied, "I have the absolute right to do national emergency if I want" and suggested that he could declare an emergency. After this, Trump repeatedly threatened to declare a national emergency to unilaterally order wall construction without congressional authorization.Charlie Savage
Trump's Emergency Powers Threat Could End Shutdown Crisis, but at What Cost?
,
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
(January 9, 2018).
Michael Tackett & Julie Hirschfeld Davis
White House Considers Using Storm Aid Funds as a Way to Pay for the Border Wall
,
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
(January 10, 2018).
Some of Trump's advisors, including his son-in-law
Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He is a son-in-law of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, through his marriage to Ivanka Trump and served as a senior advisor in his father-in- ...
, reportedly attempted to dissuade him from doing so. Administration officials considered diverting hurricane-relief and wildfire-relief funds from a $13.9 billion February 2018 emergency supplemental appropriations bill (for disaster relief in Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas and California, among other places) in order to fund a wall, and directed the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...
to look into this possibility.Courtney Kube & Julia Ainsley
Trump could take billions from disaster areas to fund wall
, NBC News (January 10, 2019).
An attempt by Trump to invoke emergency powers would almost certainly have prompted a lengthy legal challenge in court. Democrats responded that Trump lacked the authority to declare a national emergency; Representative
Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2024. A m ...
called it a "non-starter" and said that "if
Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
couldn't nationalize the steel industry during wartime, this President doesn't have the power to declare an emergency and build a multibillion dollar wall on the border." Democratic Representative Nydia Velázquez said the notion of redirecting disaster-relief funds to a border wall was "beyond appalling". Presidents have declared emergencies in the past, but none has "involved funding a policy goal after failing to win congressional approval".
Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
professor
Bruce Ackerman Bruce Arnold Ackerman (born August 19, 1943) is an American legal scholar who serves as a Sterling Professor at Yale Law School. In 2010, he was named by ''Foreign Policy'' magazine to its list of top global thinkers. Ackerman was also identified ...
wrote that the declaration of a national emergency to build a wall as Trump suggested would be unconstitutional and illegal. Other scholars, such as Elizabeth Goitein of the
Brennan Center for Justice The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is a liberal or progressive nonprofit law and public policy institute. The organization is named after Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. The Brennan Cente ...
, believed that Trump could make a colorable argument that diverting military-construction appropriations for border-wall construction was legal, but that doing so would be an
abuse of power Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an Crime, unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasan ...
. Law professor Ilya Somin stated that in the unlikely case that Trump succeeded in using the emergency powers in this way, it would set a dangerous precedent, which Republicans would come to regret next time the president was a Democrat. On January 11, Trump—while maintaining he has the authority to do so anytime—said he was not in any rush to declare a national emergency to secure wall funding, saying he would rather see Congress "do its job" and that the Democrats "should come back and vote". The next day he again threatened to use emergency powers if Democrats did not "come to their senses".


State of the Union Address

On January 16, Pelosi sent a letter to Trump that indicated the House would be unavailable for the 2019 State of the Union Address that was scheduled for January 29. Pelosi wrote, "Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government reopens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has reopened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on Jan. 29." The delivery of the
State of the Union The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a Joint session of the United States Congress, joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning ...
address had been delayed or substantially changed on only two occasions since 1913. In a letter sent to the Speaker the next day, Trump said she would not be allowed to take
military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military aircraft, military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to m ...
on scheduled visits to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan. Trump replied, "We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the shutdown is over." Pelosi and a congressional delegation had planned on visiting overseas American military personnel. On January 23, Trump sent a letter to Pelosi insisting that there were no security concerns and that he would hold the State of the Union Address as scheduled. Trump wrote, "Therefore, I will be honoring your invitation, and fulfilling my Constitutional duty, to deliver important information to the people and Congress of the United States of America regarding the State of our Union." In a letter sent in reply, Pelosi stated that the House would not consider a
concurrent resolution A concurrent resolution is a resolution (a legislative measure) adopted by both houses of a bicameral legislature that lacks the force of law (is non-binding) and does not require the approval of the chief executive ( president). Concurrent reso ...
to authorize the State of the Union Address in the House Chamber until the shutdown ended, writing, "Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened." Trump later stated he would look for an alternative, but then retracted that statement in a pair of tweets announcing that he would wait until the end of the shutdown to give the address in the House Chamber.


Resolution

On January 25, Trump announced his support for a three-week funding measure that would reopen the government until February 15. The deal, which also moved forward with long-term Department of Homeland Security funding, did not include funds for a wall. As expected, the agreement provided federal employees with back pay. Both the Senate and House of Representatives passed the funding measure by
voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...
, sending the resolution to the President's desk. Trump signed the bill the same day, ending the shutdown. Later in January, Republican senators voted unanimously against a bill to provide back pay to federal contractors.


Aftermath

Without legislation enacted by February 15, a new partial shutdown would have begun, three weeks after the last ended. A bipartisan group of senators and representatives reached an agreement "in principle" on February 11, but Trump did not say whether he would sign it. Included was $1.375 billion for 55 miles of steel border fencing. On February 13, it was reported that, against the wishes of Democratic leaders and many Republicans, Trump was blocking the provision of back pay to federal contractors who were still out of pocket from the shutdown. Both houses passed the bill February 14 with enough votes to override a veto if that happened. On February 15, at the White House Rose Garden, Trump announced that he had signed the spending bill to keep the government open. He also declared a
national emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
, hoping to get access to $8 billion to use for border security.


Effects

Agencies funded by two "minibus" appropriations bills passed in September 2018 were not affected by the shutdown. About 380,000 federal employees were furloughed, and an additional 420,000 employees for the affected agencies were expected to work with their pay delayed until the end of the shutdown, totaling 800,000 workers affected out of 2.1 million civilian non-postal federal employees. As only about a quarter of the government was shut down, many people who are not federal employees did not fully realize the effects of the shutdown.


Agencies

According to and , these were the affected agencies: *
Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
* Department of the Treasury * Department of Justice * Most of the
Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...
*
Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
*
Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business ...
*
Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and u ...
* Department of Transportation *
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...
* Some
Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
agencies ** ''
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
'' ** ''
Indian Health Service The Indian Health Service (IHS) is an operating division (OPDIV) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS is responsible for providing direct medical and public health services to members of federally recognized Native ...
'' ** ''
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The agency focuses on minimizing human health risks associated with exposure to hazar ...
'' ** ''
Superfund Research Program The Superfund Research Program (SRP) was created within the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in 1986 under the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). The SRP is a university-based research program that supports the ...
'' *
Executive Office of the President The Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The office consists o ...
* Most independent agencies *
Judicial Branch The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
Unaffected agencies include, according to and : *
Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
*
Department of Labor A ministry of labour (''British English, UK''), or labor (''American English, US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workfor ...
* Most of the Department of Health and Human Services * Department of Energy *
Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
* Department of Veterans Affairs * Some Department of the Interior agencies ** ''
Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it ...
'' ** ''
Central Utah Project The Central Utah Project is a United States federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956, as a participating project. In general, the Central Utah Project develops a porti ...
'' *
District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
(excluding
courts A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts gene ...
) *
Legislative Branch A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the authority, legal authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with th ...
*
Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...
*
Nuclear Regulatory Commission The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the ...
*
Appalachian Regional Commission The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a United States federal–state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life. Congress established A ...
* Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board *
Delta Regional Authority The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) is a Federal-State partnership whose mission it is to improve the quality of life for the residents of the Mississippi Delta. The Delta Regional Authority serves 252 counties and parishes in parts of eight state ...
* Denali Commission * Northern Border Regional Commission * Southeast Crescent Regional Commission * Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board *
American Battle Monuments Commission The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that administers, operates, and maintains permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memoria ...
* U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims * Cemeterial Expenses of the Army, including
Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...
and Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery * Armed Forces Retirement Home * Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System Fund * Intelligence Community Management Account * Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled *
Corporation for National and Community Service AmeriCorps ( ; officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer wor ...
*
Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB; stylized as cpb) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to ...
* Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service *
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (MSHRC) is an independent adjudicative agency of the United States government that provides administrative trial and appellate review of legal disputes arising under the Federal Mine Safety and ...
*
Institute of Museum and Library Services The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for librar ...
* Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission *
Medicare Payment Advisory Commission The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is an independent, non-partisan legislative branch agency headquartered in Washington, D.C. MedPAC was established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105–33). The BBA formed MedPAC by mer ...
*
National Council on Disability The National Council on Disability (NCD) is an advisory agency on disability policy in the United States for all levels of government and for private sector entities. NCD is an independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U ...
*
National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces United States labor law, U.S. labor law in relation to collect ...
*
National Mediation Board The National Mediation Board (NMB) is an independent agency of the United States government that coordinates labor-management relations within the U.S. railroads and airlines industries. History The board was established by the 1934 amendments t ...
*
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is an independent federal agency created under the Occupational Safety and Health Act to decide contests of citations or penalties resulting from OSHA inspections of American work places ...
*
Railroad Retirement Board The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency in the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the United States government created in 1 ...


On federal employees

Jobs affected included staff throughout the United States, not just DC area employees.
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
agents, federal corrections officers,
FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
inspectors,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
employees, TSA staff, Border Patrol staff and CBP officers,
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
staff,
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
staff, members of the
Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...
, and
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
air traffic controller An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...
s either worked without pay or were furloughed, with increasing numbers of unpaid essential employees failing to show up for work. On January 11, 800,000 workers for agencies shutdown or furloughed missed their first paycheck. Federal workers normally receive pay on federal holidays, which include
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
,
New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...
and potentially
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., and often referred to shorthand as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the third Monday of January each year. King was the chief spokespers ...
. The shutdown affected the employees' entitlement to paid holidays due to the shutdown. Unemployment assistance to federal workers furloughed under the government shutdown varied by locality. Only non-reporting workers were eligible for assistance, whereas furloughed workers who still reported to work were not. Workers who received unemployment assistance were required pay it back after the shut down ended and they received backpay. Some furloughed workers sought other employment opportunities while they were idled. However, external employment must meet agency-specific ethics guidelines, and mandatory reviews of external employment were also curtailed as most ethics officials were also furloughed. Federal employees were not able to use vacation or sick leave during the shutdown so scheduled holiday vacation time either became unpaid if the worker was deemed non-essential or was cancelled if the worker was deemed essential. In many cases unused leave over a certain threshold expired at year-end, but employees who had leave scheduled in advance of the shutdown did not have "use or lose" leave balances deducted from their accrued leave. Many furloughed employees took to crowd-funding campaigns to raise cash to replace missed paychecks, but these types of solicitations also run afoul of government ethics rules. As furloughed federal workers and their families shared stories of their hardships, such as not being able to meet rent or mortgage payments and missed bills, the hashtag "#ShutdownStories" went viral on social media. The federal government's
Office of Personnel Management The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the United States federal civil service. The agency provides federal human resources policy, oversight, and support, a ...
(OPM) responded by publishing sample letters that employees could send to their creditors. One read, in part, "I am a Federal employee who has recently been furloughed due to a lack of funding of my agency. Because of this, my income has been severely cut and I am unable to pay the entire cost of my mortgage, along with my other expenses." Other federal workers reached out to other news outlets to share stories about having to stretch their budgets and the impact of the shutdown on their families. In addition to being unable to meet rent or pay bills, many federal workers around the country were unable to pay for groceries and turned to
food bank A food bank or food pantry is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distrib ...
s. One federal prison guard in Louisiana attempted suicide after posting about the financial pressures of the shutdown on Facebook. The OPM also suggested that employees who had landlords write: "I would like to discuss with you the possibility of trading my services to perform maintenance (e.g. painting, carpentry work) in exchange for partial rent payments" and suggested those who lacked funds to pay bills should hire personal attorneys to assist them. Other organizations also posted advice on how to "find supplemental income"; the Coast Guard suggested that Coast Guard members "have a garage sale, offer to watch children, walk pets or house sit" while furloughed. On January 4, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' reported that because the shutdown was triggered by the failure to enact spending bills that continued a federal government pay freeze, hundreds of senior Trump administration political appointees would receive a roughly $10,000 pay raise the following day. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the pending pay raise was an "unnecessary byproduct of the shutdown". On January 10, the Senate approved by unanimous consent a bill (S.24, the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019) providing that furloughed federal employees would receive back pay for the period of the furlough once appropriations were restored; the bill was approved the next day by the House on a vote of 411–7. Trump signed the bill into law on January 16.


On Native Americans

Native American tribes were not paid for
treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...
negotiated with the United States government. These treaties specified that the federal government must provide funding for health clinics, employee salaries, education, infrastructure and other services, which were not paid during the shutdown. Native lands are "owned, managed and maintained by the federal government". Native Americans who receive a
per capita ''Per capita'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "by heads" or "for each head", and idiomatically used to mean "per person". Social statistics The term is used in a wide variety of social science, social sciences and statistical research conte ...
check for profits from oil and gas sales from tribal land did not receive check for the month of February. Roads were not plowed on tribal land, and some areas received significant snowfall. This caused people of the
Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...
to become trapped inside their homes. Food services, which fed 90,000 Native Americans in 2017, were halted. Native American communities had a high percentage of individuals who worked for the federal government and lost income during the shutdown. In North and South Dakota, one of the largest employers is the
Indian Health Service The Indian Health Service (IHS) is an operating division (OPDIV) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS is responsible for providing direct medical and public health services to members of federally recognized Native ...
. The Chippewa tribe reported an economic loss of nearly $100,000 daily in funds that the federal government was supposed to provide as a treaty obligation. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...
(BIA) was closed for the shutdown. However, 60 percent of the
Indian Health Service The Indian Health Service (IHS) is an operating division (OPDIV) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS is responsible for providing direct medical and public health services to members of federally recognized Native ...
(IHS) continued to work without pay. IHS provides care for 2.2 million Native Americans and on January 23, began to deny care that was not considered "life threatening". The
Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs that directs and manages education functions. Formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs ...
was able to stay open because it was funded on a different schedule. Unlike other government shutdowns, there was little outreach from the Trump Administration to Native Americans and the Chippewa tribe in Michigan was given a 24-hour notice that the shutdown would take place and affect the tribe.


On the military

The only military branch that was affected by the shutdown was the Coast Guard because it was part of the Department of Homeland Security, while the
Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
,
Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
,
Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...
, and
Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...
were all funded through the
Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
. Officials were able to fund payment on December 31, 2018, but were not able to do so for the paychecks of January 15 and 30, 2019, along with the pay and benefits for civilian workers and retirees. During the shutdown, the Coast Guard continued to engage in patrolling the American coastline and carrying out overseas missions in locations such as the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
along with the Navy and in the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. Other issues arose in the payment processes for Coast Guard members
Tricare Tricare (styled TRICARE) is a health care program of the United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the fede ...
Health and Dental Program payments, although the individuals were still covered. Military schools, such as the Coast Guard Academy and the
National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...
, lost funding due to the shutdown and the schools had to work to find funds to pay professors. Although the Department of Defense was not shut down, the February 4, 2019, date for release of the Pentagon's 2020 budget was delayed by at least one month. This had repercussions on the interim period which is usually used by Pentagon planners for adjustments before the 2020 fiscal year which will begin in October 2019. The White House Office of Management and Budget, which oversees the Pentagon request, was shut down when the Pentagon budget arrived in December, and remained inactive, so no work was done on the budget. On February 25, 2019, the Pentagon's counter-drug (interdiction) funding has up to $85 million not yet obligated, but that money was planned for the known corridors in
El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
,
Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
, Yuma, and El Centro for border fencing, lighting, and road projects, so any funds which might possibly be intended for additional projects elsewhere along the border must be obligated by September 30, 2019, in order not to affect the known corridors. Otherwise appropriations above the $85 million not yet obligated for additional interdiction border projects will have to be approved by additional Congressional appropriations, to reach the $2 billion target.


Economic impact

A January 28, 2019
Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. I ...
report estimated that the 35-day partial government shutdown cost the American economy at least $11 billion, including $3 billion in permanent losses; the CBO estimate excluded indirect costs that were difficult to quantify. The furloughing of 145,000 federal workers and 112,500 federal contractors in the
Washington Metropolitan Area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...
cost the regional economy $119 million each day, or 7.3% of the region's total output. That reduced GDP by over $2.8 billion in the Washington DC area alone. The shutdown also had a noticeable impact on hunger in the national capital region: food pantries in Washington DC and Northern Virginia reported an increase of around 10% in the number of people coming to pick up groceries, with most of that increase coming from federal workers and contractors.
Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is considered as being one of the " Bi ...
warned that an extended shutdown might lead to a downgrade in the U.S.'s Triple-A
credit rating A credit rating is an evaluation of the credit risk of a prospective debtor (an individual, a business, company or a government). It is the practice of predicting or forecasting the ability of a supposed debtor to pay back the debt or default. The ...
if lawmakers were unable to pass a budget or manage the debt ceiling. That in turn would make borrowing more costly for companies and American households, because it is the benchmark for many other lines of credit. The only time the U.S. credit rating has been downgraded by S&P was during the United States debt-ceiling crisis of 2011. Some economists believed that an extended shutdown would weaken
consumer confidence Consumer confidence is an economic indicator that measures the degree of optimism that consumers feel about the overall state of the economy and their personal financial situation. If the consumer has confidence in the immediate and near future ...
and heighten the risk of pushing the U.S. economy into a
recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be tr ...
. Between 800,000 federal government employees and some 4 million federal contractors, the shutdown directly affected nearly 3% of the labor force of the United States; in a typical recession, unemployment increases 2–4%. The reduction in spending by those households combined with the reduction of government services could have
macroeconomic Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies. Macroeconomists study topics such as output/ GDP ...
results similar to a typical recession. The shutdown had an adverse effect on the budgets of state and local governments, as states covered some federal services (particularly the most vulnerable) during the shutdown. By mid-January 2019, the White House
Council of Economic Advisors The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the president of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...
estimated that each week of the shutdown reduced GDP growth by 0.1 percentage points, the equivalent of 1.2 points per quarter. CEA chairman Kevin Hassett later acknowledged that GDP growth could decline to zero in the first quarter of 2019 if the shutdown lasted the entire quarter.


Taxes

As tax season began in the United States on January 28, some 46,000
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
workers were called back to work to ensure tax refunds and returns were not affected by the shutdown. The recalled workers allowed the department to continue operations that were automatic and those deemed necessary for the safety of human life or protection of government property, such as processing electronic returns, returns with payments, mailing tax forms, appeals, criminal law enforcement investigations and technical support.


Food stamps, inspections, and school lunches

During the shutdown, 95% of federal staff for the
USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...
's
Food and Nutrition Service The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The FNS is the federal agency responsible for administering the nation’s domestic nutrition assistance programs. The service helps to add ...
s were furloughed. The
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal government program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income persons to help them maintai ...
(SNAP), the food-stamp program, could be funded through a $3 billion contingency fund appropriated by Congress in 2018; if the shutdown had continued through March 2019, those funds would have been exhausted, leaving some 38 million Americans without food stamps and endangering
food security Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...
. Concerns were raised that continuation of the shutdown could delay the issuance of some $140 billion in
tax refund A tax refund is a payment to the taxpayer due because the taxpayer has paid more taxes than owed. United States According to the Internal Revenue Service, 77% of tax returns filed in 2004 resulted in a refund check, with the average refund c ...
s from the
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
(IRS). The
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
(FDA) oversees most of the food supply in the U.S. In early January, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the FDA commissioner, reported that the FDA suspended food inspections. He noted that inspection of foreign food was continuing as "almost normal", because they are considered vital. "Government shutdown stops FDA food safety inspections
NBC News, January 9, 2019
Around January 14, "high-risk" food inspections resumed. As of January 22, 2019, 46 percent of the FDA were working, though 20 percent of them were working without pay. During the shutdown, two new recalls for contamination with ''
Listeria ''Listeria'' is a genus of bacteria that acts as an intracellular parasite in mammals. As of 2024, 28 species have been identified. The genus is named in honour of the British pioneer of sterile surgery Joseph Lister. ''Listeria'' species ...
'' or ''
Salmonella ''Salmonella'' is a genus of bacillus (shape), rod-shaped, (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two known species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' ...
'' took place. Consumer advocacy groups advised of food safety issues during the shutdown. Food safety attorney, Bill Marler, advocated against eating "fresh, uncooked products on the market place". Because there was a shortage of FDA inspectors, many imported perishable items, such as produce or flowers, were at risk of spoilage. Meat and some egg products are inspected by the USDA's
Food Safety and Inspection Service The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is the public health regulatory agency responsible for ensuring that United States' commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg prod ...
. Federal legislation required those inspectors to remain working without pay. School administrations raised concern about how to feed children who purchase food at the schools for lunch, as funding concerns caused some districts to conserve food and funding. Many limited the amount or variation of foods available for the children to purchase, and alerted parents to the concerns and the limited availability of some of the items. Most schools affected were in high-poverty areas, and depended on federally funded lunch programs, such as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) a
federal grant In the United States, federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purp ...
established by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and operated through the
Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
. Some 22 million students in nearly 100,000 schools received school meals through that operation.


National parks and capital museums

As with the January 2018 shutdown,
national parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
were expected to be open to the extent practical, though there would be no staff and buildings would be closed. The shutdown affected national parks unevenly, some were accessible with bare-bones staffing levels, some operated with money from states or charitable groups, and others were locked off. Diane Regas, president and chief executive of the
Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...
, called upon Trump to close all national parks to protect the public: by the third week of the shutdown, three people had died in national parks. This number was reported as being within 'usual' levels. At
Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...
, on January 4, 2019, a death from a fall went unreported for a week. By January 1, 2019, the problems of neglected trash pileup, overflowing public toilets, and access to first aid were repeated across the Park system. Health and safety concerns were raised, with concerns by scientists that the expansive amount of garbage and human waste could impact
water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
and
soil quality Soil quality refers to the condition of soil based on its capacity to perform ecosystem services that meet the needs of human and non-human life.Tóth, G., Stolbovoy, V. and Montanarella, 2007. Soil Quality and Sustainability Evaluation - An integ ...
, or cause damage to animals in the parks. Other issues that arose due to the shutdown included illegal campsites, protected agriculture being damaged, damaging of government property and trespassing on foot and by vehicle.


Closures or limited access

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
kept the
Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...
and
Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...
open, as it did during the January 2018 shutdown. Arizona and Utah were able to keep
Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyo ...
, Zion National Park,
Arches National Park Arches National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in eastern Utah. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, north of Moab, Utah. The park contains more than 2,000 natural arch, natural ...
, and
Bryce Canyon National Park Bryce Canyon National Park () is a national park of the United States located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along ...
open and provided services including public restrooms, shuttles and trash collection. Utah's funding included visitor centers. The sites closed outright in the southwest alone included Bandelier National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve in northern
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico,
Petrified Forest National Park Petrified Forest National Park is a national park of the United States in Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. Named for its large deposits of petrified wood, the park covers about , encompassing semi-desert shrub steppe as wel ...
in northern Arizona and
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Casa Grande Ruins National Monument ( or ''Sivan Vahki'') is a United States national monument preserving a group of Classic Period () Hohokam structures in Coolidge, Arizona, northeast of Casa Grande. History of the area The national mon ...
in south-central Arizona. Access to major parts of Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks were closed, and at
Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, US National Park located in southeastern California, straddling north-central Riverside County, California, Riverside County and part of southern San Bernardino County, ...
, the administration policy of leaving parks open to visitors despite the staff furloughs resulted in park damage, including the toppling of protected trees. In Texas,
Big Bend National Park Big Bend National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topograph ...
had no visitor services, such as restrooms. Some trailheads were closed. Regulations continued to be enforced, as the park remained open. Visitors were reminded to remove their own trash and toilet paper. The Alamo remained open but no NPS services were available at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Channel Islands National Park remained open to public access, although services normally provided by the national park service were instead provided by Island Packers Cruises, the company normally in charge of ferries to the islands. The
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
closed immediately on December 22, 2018. The
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
, the U.S. Botanic Garden, the
Capitol Visitor Center The United States Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) is a large underground addition to the United States Capitol complex which serves as a gathering point for up to 4,000 tourists and an expansion space for the U.S. Congress.U.S. Capitol Building remained open as they were funded by the 2019 Legislative Branch appropriations bill. The
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
operated on "prior-year funds" through January 1, 2019. On January 2, 2019, the Smithsonian Institution initiated an orderly shutdown of all its facilities, including 19 museums in Washington, D.C., and New York City, the National Zoo, and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. The following day, the
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
was closed. The National Zoo also closed on January 3, 2019. Tourism attendance on the
National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...
was affected. On January 5, 2019, acting Interior Secretary
David Bernhardt David Longly Bernhardt (born August 17, 1969) is an American lawyer who served as the 53rd United States secretary of the interior from 2019 to 2021 in the administration of Donald Trump. He previously was a shareholder at the Colorado law fir ...
directed the diversion of fee revenue defined by the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to be used to fund minimal maintenance activities so as to preserve access to highly visited parks.


Airspace and aviation workers

According to a January 12, 2019, article in ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'', on January 11, the
Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within and connecting to the United States. It was created ...
(TSA) was unable to pay its workers who had not been paid since December 22; 55% more of them called in sick than in January 2018. As the air traffic controllers were deemed essential employees, they were required to work without pay. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union that represents air traffic controllers, filed a lawsuit against the federal government for the shutdown on January 11, 2019, claiming that requiring 16,000 air traffic controllers to work without being paid violated their constitutional rights and federal minimum wage law. That was the third lawsuit filed against the federal government since the beginning of the shutdown. Airline and aircraft safety inspectors, on the other hand, were deemed nonessential and furloughed. A news report on January 12, 2019, stated that the Federal Aviation Administration had returned 500 furloughed safety inspectors back to work and would return more to work in the following weeks. As the airline and aircraft safety inspectors were furloughed, the certification process of the
Airbus A220 The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (ACLP). It was originally developed by Bombardier Aviation and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries. The program was launche ...
in the US was stalled.
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
was forced to delay the launch of the new aircraft, and to use other models of aircraft to serve those routes that was supposed to be served with A220. Many TSA employees also called out sick, most of them because they were trying to find other jobs that would provide immediate paychecks. The shutdown initially prevented the
National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...
from assisting the Mexican government's investigation of the 2018 Puebla helicopter crash that killed a state governor and senator; an exception allowed the NTSB to assist with the Mexican government in the investigation along with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The NTSB also had to delay several investigations until the government reopened and only continued investigations into accidents that were considered the most serious. Issues in receiving certification and oversight from the FAA led to a month-long delay in the commencement of passenger service at
Paine Field Seattle Paine Field International Airport — also known as Paine Field and Snohomish County Airport — is a commercial and general aviation airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in uni ...
in
Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...
. As the shutdown continued into its fourth week, the unions representing airline pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers issued a statement asserting, "we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play" because of the shutdown.


On airports

Some airports, such as the Philadelphia International Airport, launched food and item donations for federal employees who were affected by the shutdown. Other airports such as the
Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...
, and the George Bush International Airport, closed down terminals in order to spread out the TSA workers that were available. On January 25, flights destined for
LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the North Shore (Long Island), northwestern shore of Long Island, bord ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
were halted to a groundstop by FAA officials due to staffing shortages directly as a result of the shutdown. As a result, several flights to and from neighboring airports in the Northeast, specifically
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and Newark, suffered significant delays of their own. Soon after that, appropriations passed and the government reopened. The shutdown delayed software updates to the
Boeing 737 MAX The Boeing 737 MAX is a series of narrow-body aircraft developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes as the fourth generation of the Boeing 737. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation and incorporates more efficient CFM International LEAP engin ...
airplane which may have caused the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.


Judiciary and law enforcement

During the shutdown, court-appointed private lawyers who represent indigent defendants worked without pay. The Federal Judiciary initially had a goal of sustaining paid operations through January 18, 2019. It said it would run out of money to sustain court operations no earlier than January 25, but perhaps as late as February 1. Failing funding, the Judiciary would operate under the terms of the
Antideficiency Act The Antideficiency Act (ADA) () is legislation enacted by the United States Congress to prevent the incurring of obligations or the making of expenditures (outlays) in excess of amounts available in appropriations or funds. The law was initially ...
. This Act does not allow federal agencies to expend federal funds before an appropriation, nor to accept any voluntary services. The judiciary had 33,000 employees nationwide. Under the Constitution, Supreme Court Justices, appeals court judges and district judges would continue to be paid. The shutdown caused many delays and disruptions in cases. Budgets were watched carefully to be able to pay public defenders, DNA testing, informants, and travel costs to interview victims and witnesses. Staffing issues also brought about concerns and constraints with prisons lacking the staff to safely hold attorney-client visits, and caused a delay in bail hearings.


Investigation and enforcement

Agents of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
(FBI) revealed in a report released on January 22, 2019, by the FBI Agents Association, that several different investigations were compromised by the shutdown. The report was called "Voices from the Field" and was 72 pages long. FBI agents were unable to pay Confidential Human Sources which risks losing that informant permanently. Some FBI divisions no longer have Spanish-speaking staff on hand and could not work with informants who only speak Spanish. Some agents reported that they did not have the funds to assist in joint operations with local law enforcement. Federal law enforcement agencies working on Native American land worked without pay through the shutdown.


Homeland security

The
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...
(DHS) was forced to cancel a trip to the United States/Mexico border in early January due to the shutdown. DHS was also unable to inspect Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities during the shutdown to ensure that immigrants were being held in facilities appropriately. During the shutdown, the federal government's e-Verify system—a system for employers to check the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States—was halted. During the shutdown, a wave of
Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed name service that provides a naming system for computers, services, and other resources on the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information ...
(DNS) attacks on government sites was detected by Homeland Security. The attacks were serious because these Internet sites could be hijacked.


Other agencies

Official websites for agencies were rendered insecure or inaccessible through the shutdown, as the expired
digital certificates In cryptography, a public key certificate, also known as a digital certificate or identity certificate, is an electronic document used to prove the validity of a Key authentication, public key. The certificate includes the public key and informati ...
were not renewed. On January 23, DHS asked all government agencies to secure their DNS records; however, many agencies were not able to respond quickly to this request. Executive and legislative affairs of the
local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
of the District of Columbia continued operating through the shutdown, due to a provision previously enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017. The District's local court system, including the
Superior Court of the District of Columbia The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, commonly referred to as DC Superior Court, is the trial court for the District of Columbia, in the United States. It hears cases involving Criminal justice, criminal, Civil law (common law), civi ...
and the
District of Columbia Court of Appeals The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court of the District of Columbia, the capital city of the United States. The court was established in 1942 as the Municipal Court of Appeals, and it has been the court of last resort ...
, are part of the federal judiciary. Thus, they were partially shut down, preventing District residents from accessing services such as marriage licensing. The District of Columbia government said it would take over trash collection and snow plowing operations for National Park Service facilities in Washington. The shutdown also interfered with the response to the 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami, as the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta's Twitter account was unable to tweet updates, and the
United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...
was unable to provide data on the tsunami. The American weather model, the GFS, suffered a significant drop in forecast quality when a data format change during the shutdown prevented certain weather data from being recognized by the GFS, and the shutdown prevented the bug from being corrected. By mid-day Thursday, January 3, 2019, the FCC had suspended operations. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai canceled his trip to the
Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...
. The FTC also suspended certain online operations. The EPA and Department of Energy's
Energy Star Energy Star (trademarked ENERGY STAR) is an Efficient energy use, energy-efficiency program established in 1992. It is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The EPA ...
website was not available for the duration of the shutdown. Makers of alcoholic beverages were unable to receive approval from the
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, statutorily named the Tax and Trade Bureau and frequently shortened to TTB, is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, which regulates and collects taxes on trade and imports of alc ...
for new labels and recipes during the shutdown. Based on the recalculation of their operating reserves, the
US Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...
(USPTO) would have had to cease patent operations in the second week of February. A cadre of personnel was allocated to continue receiving patent applications, receive payments, and maintain the IT infrastructure. Even though the USPTO is self-funded, a Congressional appropriation is required to permit the USPTO to spend money. The pipeline of patent applications at the time took 15.8 months for a response from an examiner. The Smithsonian Institution shortened to two days and downscaled its scheduled ten-day 2019 Folklife Festival on the National Mall because of the shutdown's effects. Sabrina Motley, the director of the festival, said that initially, crucial funding for the June—July event arrived later than expected, slowing preparations. Motley stated: "The government opened back up, but it took a while for systems to come back online. ... We looked at our production schedule, and it became clear we would need more time than we had."


White House

The White House residence staff who stage public receptions were among those furloughed, with a minimal staff continuing to work unpaid for the first family. In the midst of the shutdown Trump invited the Clemson Tigers football team to a White House dinner reception on January 14 in recognition of their College Football Playoff National Championship win. On the morning of the reception Trump announced that he intended to serve fast food hamburgers and pizza to the team, a remark that some commentators interpreted as a joke. That evening Trump welcomed the team in the State Dining Room with a buffet of fast food and pizza from McDonald's, Wendy's and other restaurant chains, which he stated that he had paid for personally. Trump served fast food to other visiting athletes later that year, after the shutdown had ended.


Reactions


Protests and lawsuits

On January 10, the American Federation of Government Employees, along with several other unions, announced plans to protest the government shutdown at 1:00pm EST in Washington, DC. Leaders of the
National Federation of Federal Employees The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) is an American labor union which represents about 100,000 public employees in the federal government. NFFE has about 200 local unions, most of them agency-wide bargaining units. Its members wo ...
stated they had hoped that bringing federal workers to the President's doorstep would show him that it was the individual workers that the shutdown was hurting the most. President Trump had left to visit the US–Mexican border in Texas earlier in the day. Similar protests took place in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
, among other cities. On January 15, representatives for
Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States Armed Forces, United States war veterans who fought in wars, Military campaign, campaig ...
, Disabled American Veterans, and
Vietnam Veterans of America Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. (VVA) is a national non-profit corporation founded in 1978 in the United States that is committed to serving the needs of all veterans. It is funded without any contribution from any branch of government. VVA is t ...
along with others called for an end to shutdown, but avoided placing any blame on political parties. Shortly after the protests, the American Federation of Government Employees sued the Trump administration to challenge the arrangements for work without pay during the shutdown. A similar suit was raised and won during the 2013 Federal Government shutdown. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association also sued the Trump administration, as the shutdown allegedly violated the
Fair Labor Standards Act The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and " time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppre ...
by failing to pay the workers at least a
minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...
during the shutdown.


Members of Congress donating or refusing salary

As the salaries for members of Congress are written into permanent law and not funded through annual appropriations, the government shutdown did not affect their salaries. Senators and Representatives were still paid their biweekly salaries of $6,700 towards at least $174,000 a year. Several Democratic and Republican Senators and Representatives said they would donate or refuse their salary during the shutdown. Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw stated that he would refuse his salary, Senator
Catherine Cortez Masto Catherine Marie Cortez Masto (born March 29, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from Nevada, a seat she has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Pa ...
indicated she would donate hers to a Nevada charity, Senator
Mazie Hirono Mazie Keiko Hirono (; Japanese name: , ; born November 3, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Hawaii. A member of the ...
said she would donate her salary to Hawaii food banks, Massachusetts Senator
Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...
said she would give hers to refugee non-profit HIAS, New York Congressman Max Rose stated that he would give his salary to charity and outgoing Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota pledged hers to charity, along with her Republican colleague
John Hoeven John Henry Hoeven III ( ; born March 13, 1957) is an American banker and politician serving as the senior U.S. senator from North Dakota, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Hoeven served as the 31st governor of N ...
. Republican senator Kevin Cramer, who defeated Heidi Heitkamp in the 2018 midterm elections, refused to donate his salary, calling the move "gimmicky". Representative Brian Fitzpatrick urged all members of Congress to decline their paychecks. He said, "If you're in Congress, don't just delay your pay -- forfeit it, write a check back to the US Treasury. Then you'll feel the pain of federal workers." By January 17, 2019, 102 members of Congress—20 Senators and 82 Representatives— chose to decline their paychecks or were donating their paychecks to charity.


Aid for federal employees

During the shutdown, many federal workers used
food bank A food bank or food pantry is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distrib ...
s and food pantries in order to feed themselves and their families. Many food pantries waived certain restrictions in order to help government workers have access to food. During the shutdown, the Salvation Army Emergency Disasters Services program provided meals for federal workers. Chef Jose Andres created the #ChefsForFeds program to feed federal workers in Washington, D.C. and by January 21, made announcements to expand the program nationwide. Some states such as
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, offered furloughed employees
unemployment benefits Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work d ...
, although the Trump administration allegedly told states that they could not do so with federal funds. Organizations such as state Attorneys General offices, and credit card companies posted statements to their websites to offer a means to help to consolidate debt, meet mortgages or other payments such as
child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (state or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is ...
or tuition. An employment law firm offered ''pro bono'' legal advice to furloughed federal employees. School districts opened up free or reduced lunch options for children of federal employees, and looked into other options to aid parents amid concerns that financial stress at home would adversely affect families and children. Every mainline denomination in America has contributed to efforts to provide relief. One Baptist church emptied its entire disaster fund to aid federal employees.


Statements by Trump administration officials and family members

On January 24,
Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
Wilbur Ross Wilbur Louis Ross Jr. (born November 28, 1937) is an American businessman who served as the 39th United States Secretary of Commerce from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ross was previously cha ...
downplayed the financial difficulties faced by the 800,000 federal workers affected by the shutdown, stating that they should borrow money to "tide them over" until the shutdown ends. Critics and Democrats criticized the statement as inappropriate, noting that Ross' own
net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net w ...
is estimated at almost $700 million, accusing him of being out of touch with the workers. Ross also said that he "did not understand" why people who were not getting paid due to the shutdown were visiting
food bank A food bank or food pantry is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distrib ...
s. When asked about Ross' statement, Trump suggested that grocery stores will "work along" with the government by voluntarily extending credit to those who are out of funds to buy food. National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow characterized the shutdown as a "glitch" and suggested that federal workers who were required to work without pay were "volunteering" to work for their love of the country and "presumably their allegiance to President Trump". In a video message to staff, FBI director Christopher Wray stated, "Making some people stay home when they don’t want to, and making others show up without pay, it’s mind-boggling, it’s shortsighted and it’s unfair. It takes a lot to get me angry, but I’m about as angry as I’ve been in a long, long time." Lara Trump, a daughter-in-law of the President, drew outrage after an interview in which she stated that while "It's not fair to you..." the shutdown was "...a little bit of pain, but it's going to be for the future of our country, and their children and their grandchildren and generations after them will thank them for their sacrifice right now." Her comments drew criticism by politicians, celebrities, and the general public who felt the advisor and spokeswoman for the Trump 2020 campaign was out of touch, however Lara Trump later claimed the comments were taken out of context.


Public opinion

In January 2019, a
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
poll conducted by SSRS found that 56% of the responding public opposed a wall while 39% favored it, and 45% viewed the situation at the border as a crisis. The numbers were similar to the poll in December 2018 yet a later poll by ABC News showed that as the partial shutdown entered its fourth week support for building a wall was increasing. A poll done through
YouGov YouGov plc is a international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm headquartered in the UK with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. History 2000–2010 Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim ...
between December 23–25, 2018, reported that 51% of respondents thought Trump deserved "a lot" of the blame, 44% thought congressional Democrats and 39% thought congressional Republicans. Similar results were reported by a December 21–25 survey done by
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
and
Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. (; derived from the Latin expression, ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publ ...
in which 47% of respondents said that the shutdown was the President's fault and 33% blamed Congressional Democrats. Over the course of the shutdown, Trump's approval rating marginally declined while his disapproval rating marginally increased. His net approval rating was by the middle of January 2019 at its lowest point since February 2018. On December 27, 2018, it was reported that Trump's approval rating of registered voters was at 39%, with 56% disapproval. Broken down the rating was split across party lines, with Republicans reporting an 80% approval rate while Democrats and independents reported a 90% and 57% disapproval rating, respectively. The poll was conducted through Morning Consult between December 21–23. The poll also reported that 43% of respondents blamed Trump for the shutdown, with 31% blaming congressional Democrats and 7% congressional Republicans. Another poll through ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Upshot/
Siena College Siena College is a Private college, private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York, United States. It was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937 and is named after the Franciscan friar Bernardino of Siena. The college enrolls approxi ...
reported that 89% of voters' views on Trump and the wall were aligned, suggesting that support for the wall was a function of support for Trump. ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''–
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
poll published on January 13, 2019, found that a larger number of Americans blamed Trump and congressional Republicans than congressional Democrats for the shutdown. A ''
PBS NewsHour ''PBS News Hour'', previously stylized as ''PBS NewsHour'', is the news division of PBS and an American daily evening news broadcasting#television, television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS Network affiliate#Member stations, member stat ...
''– Marist poll found that on January 15, 2019, a majority of Americans thought that President Trump was to blame for the shutdown. A January 2019 poll conducted by telephone for
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
found that 70% of Americans polled did not want a government shutdown over the issue of building a border wall; 66% believed that Trump should agree to a budget without wall funding.


See also

*
First presidency of Donald Trump Donald Trump's first tenure as the president of the United States began on January 20, 2017, when Trump First inauguration of Donald Trump, was inaugurated as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president, and ended on January ...
* January 2018 United States federal government shutdown


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:United States federal government shutdown of 2018-2019 115th United States Congress 116th United States Congress 2018 in American politics 2019 in American politics Articles containing video clips December 2018 in the United States Government finances in the United States Government shutdowns in the United States January 2019 in the United States 2018 controversies in the United States 2019 controversies in the United States First presidency of Donald Trump First Trump administration controversies Nancy Pelosi Kevin McCarthy Paul Ryan Mitch McConnell Chuck Schumer