On December 22, 2018, the United States government officially shut down. It shut down due to a disagreement regarding Trump’s plan for the wall. The 5.7 billion dollars is expected to be used for border protection, not funding for the wall that Trump had promised in his candidacy. The money has not been approved yet.

The government had been shut down for 35 days and is expected to continue to be temporarily opened until Congress came to a decision. The following Congressional vote was held on January 24, 2019 and another one will be held on February 15, 2019.

“The federal government shutdown was blamed for flight delays Friday at major airports in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Orlando and Atlanta due to staffing shortages at critical air traffic control centers.” Ray Sanchez, a CNN reporter said.

One consequence of the shutdown is that TSA employees are not getting paid while the government is shutdown. According to FederalLawEnforcment.org, the average TSA employee earns about $16-$19 an hour. Most TSA employees have lost about 34 days of money that could have been earned.

A Lewis-Palmer High School student, Holden Nitchals 11, believes that the government has a negative effect on the 800,000 people who are currently living without pay.

“I have some family who works in the TSA,” Nitchals said. “It’s not a big deal for them to miss a couple of paychecks but they have co workers who are being affected.”

On January 25, 2019 the government reopened on the account of President Trump. He reopened the Government for 3 weeks or until President Trump and his cabinet can come to an agreement upon the bill the Government is trying to pass. If no agreement is reached by February 15, 2019, Trump has stated he will announce a state of emergency for the United States. This means the government can perform actions it would normally not be able to.

“This was in no way a concession,” President Trump tweeted. “It was about taking care of the millions of people who were hurt by the Shutdown.”