By Emma Sonneborn and Molly McCaffrey

The government was shut down for approximately 33 days, making it the longest running government shutdown in the history of the United States. The following questions address all aspects of the shutdown in more depth, so as to provide an overview of what occurred.

Why did the government shut down?

The shutdown occurred because a law needed to be renewed that would allow the government to keep spending money, but the president refused to sign the law unless it had funding for the border wall, which would prevent people from coming into our country that some consider dangerous. The bill to fund the government was able to pass the Senate at the end of 2018, but the house, being controlled by the Republicans, refused to vote on it.

Why was the government not reopened for 33 days?

Before the newly elected government officials were sworn in on January 3rd, the Senate passed the bill but the house refused to because they were controlled by the Republicans who also wanted funding for the wall. After the elected were sworn in Congress had to rewrite a bill to fund the government. With the House flipped and is now being controlled by the Democrats, the bill passed. The Senate, however; now being controlled by the Republicans, refused to pass it. Making the bill now to have passed both a Senate and a House of Representatives within these past 26 days but not eligible because of the switch of Congress.

What can the president do to change this problem?

The president’s job is to sign the bill that Congress passes. With Congress at a stalemate, however, because of the president’s demands for an additional sum of money to be funded for his wall, the bill can´t officially becomes a law. This meant that President Trump had to drop his demands over funding for the wall, or convince Congress to pass a bill that funds the wall. The president, however, could also call a national emergency which would gain him his funding for the wall without going through Congress, though he seems to be leaning against that.

How can the government solve this disagreement?

If Republicans of the Senate give in and 2/3rd of Congress pass the law they can override the president’s veto. The Democrats could give in to the president and rewrite a bill that gives the president money to build a wall.

Who was not getting paid in the government?

Nine Federal Departments and agencies were shut down and not getting paid. These include the Federal Aviation Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Securities and Exchange Commission.

How is this affecting our country?

Roughly 800,000 federal workers missed a second paycheck. National Parks and Museums were closed, which caused the park rangers and other staff members to be out of a job and miss paychecks. Security at airports were not being paid meaning many were calling out sick which made the airport more hectic with the limited staff. A 72-page report put out by the FBI Agents Association revealed that they were concerned that not only have the citizens of this nation have been affected, but also the security of this nation was at stake. Can talk to

What is the current status of this all?

The Senate members voted on two plans last Thursday but both did not pass. The first was the President’s plan that includes funding for border control and the building of his wall and the second was the bill that House already passed that excludes the wall. The next day, both chambers passed a bill that temporarily opened the government until February 15 without any funding for the wall. The president also signed this bill so the government is officially open again.

On top of this, the State of Union, an annual message given by the president, was postponed. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, said that the speech, originally scheduled for January 29, 2019, was not going to happen unless the government reopened. The State of Union was rescheduled for yesterday, February 5, 2019.  Now, we just have to wait and see if there will be a compromise in the next few weeks, or if this will happen all over again.