Americans Suffer During Historic Government Shutdown

Americans Suffer During Historic Government Shutdown

Daianaera Charnell, Staff Writer

 

Federal employees and the rest of the country suffer through the longest government shutdown in United States history.  The partial Government Shutdown started at midnight on Saturday, December 22 of 2018, and is currently ongoing. The last shutdown of this length was the shutdown of 1995 to 1996.

The shutdown was a result of President Donald Trump demanding 5.7 billion dollars in federal funds to build the U.S.-Mexico wall and U.S. Congress refusing to agree to fund the wall. It was also partially being unable to agree on a timely appropriation of funds for the temporary continuing resolution. The after-effect has left 800,000 government officials living without pay, but about a little more than half are still working. Here are those who are directly affected by this shutdown.

~ Airport Security

~ Parks and Museums

~ Science and Research

~ Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veteran Affairs

~ Law Enforcement and the Judiciary

~ The Internal Revenue Service

~ Food Aid and Inspections

~ The Violence against Women Act

Airport security is one of the most critical areas being affected.  It is believed that since the shutdown began, some employees have been calling out “sick” across the country.

A federal official (who didn’t want to be named) told the New York Times the call-outs are a coordinated protest, “Many workers were most likely just looking for work elsewhere to cover for missed wages.”

or with help from their respective state governments. National Park Service has warned that access may change without notice, but some question those parks remaining open with limited staffing, asking about safety for visitors.   Three have died on NPS property since the shutdown.