Who would have thought that an insolent child could throw a 35-day long tantrum? Well, the government was shut down for 35 days. That marked the longest government shutdown since Clinton in 1995. One must think there are very specific and grand reasons for such a shutdown, seeing as there were approximately 420,000 federal employees that were working without pay.
But no. President Donald Trump, a polarizing figure among Democrats and Republicans alike, was getting a lot of resistance about using an exorbitant amount of federal funds to build a wall bordering Mexico. He wasn’t getting his way, so he shut the government down.
Some of the governmental departments that get seriously affected by a government shutdown are the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Department of Agriculture and Department of Treasury along with several others. Each department has their own measures they take in the case of a shutdown, but most employees do not get paid. The essential employees are required to keep working, even if their pay is delayed. The non-essential employees are furloughed and sent home to twiddle their thumbs until the tantrum — excuse me, shutdown — is over.
The fact that the Department of Homeland Security is closed over a matter of border security is ironic, we can all see that, but it is also very scary. Yes, the essential employees are required to work and are working. But they are also mostly required to work without pay. You cannot tell me that every single person that has to report to work without pay still has top-level performance and work ethic for their job. For people at the Department of Homeland Security to possibly not be giving it all and having to deal with politics instead of possible threats of terror is a terrifying thought.
The government shutdown was caused because Trump couldn’t secure funding for his wall. Ironically, the government shutdown cost more than the wall would have at all. President Trump lifted the partial shutdown and gave lawmakers three weeks, through Feb. 15, to compromise on matters of border security. But, if the compromise doesn’t include securing the funds to build the wall and a shiny stamp of approval, who is to say this conditional reopening of the government won’t crumble?
The president still has the final trump card as well. He can take executive action and declare a national emergency to secure the $5.7 billion he needs for the construction of the wall, and essentially all of this would have been for naught. The executive action is constitutional and is within the realms of his presidential power, but the checks and balances system is in place for a reason. Our founding fathers put this system in place so no one branch of the government takes too much power for themselves. The executive action is a loophole to these checks and balances and democrats have threatened to sue if another governmental mess ensues. Wouldn’t be the first time Trump’s been sued, though.
All we can do is sit on the edge of our seats as the beehive is continuously getting poked and just hope this storm doesn’t rain down hard on us all over the president of our country not getting his way.