Longest government shutdown in U.S. history comes to an end

By Martha Berkheimer
News Editor
At midnight on Dec. 22, 2018, President Trump declared a government shutdown in response to lack of funding for his proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. After 35 days, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, President Trump proposed a deal ending the shut
down on Jan. 25.

The shutdown stemmed from President Trump’s refusal to sign any bills proposed by Congress that did not fund the border wall as well as the Senate’s refusal to support any bills that include funding to build the
border wall.

As of Jan. 25, President Trump signed a bill that ended the shutdown and
allowed the government to open for three weeks in order to continue negotiations on the issue of the funding for the border wall. President of the Hood College Republicans, Jacob Keith, responded submitted a response with his view on the government shutdown and current administration:

“The glongest government shutdown in U.S. history comes to an end down is frankly a disgrace. I have made it no secret that I am at odds with the current administrations policies and overall behavior. The border wall is not an effective way of preventing undocumented immigration nor is it an effective way of preventing drug trafficking –both of the ‘illegal incursions’ occur more frequently through legal ports of entry. Ignoring the inherent
leaps in logic necessary to justify a border wall, the behavior of the Senate is ludicrous.

“While the House of Representatives has passed bills to reopen the government, Mitch McConnell continues to prevent the due course of government. He will not allow any bill to come onto the Senate floor,
claiming that Trump will not sign it and thus it is useless. However, the Founding Fathers did come up with a solution when writing the United States Constitution. Congress can override the President’s veto when necessary and, sadly, it is necessary. So this is not just a case of the President keeping the government closed, this is a case of the Senate Majority Leader being overly cautious; his every action confirms the suspicions held by many that he has been compromised by Russian kompromat or by a general
lack of moral values. McConnell is more interested in serving Trump than he is our own country.

“By forcing numerous federal employees to work with
no pay, President Trump is using his own citizens as a bargaining chip, which is despicable. It’s time that Republicans own up to the fact that they
backed the wrong horse.”