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It's Official: The Partial Government Shutdown Is The Longest In U.S. History

By Arnie Seipel
Published January 12, 2019 at 12:01 AM EST
Union members and other federal employees protest in front of the White House on Thursday. Many are out of work as the partial government shutdown has dragged on longer than any in history.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais
/
AP
Union members and other federal employees protest in front of the White House on Thursday. Many are out of work as the partial government shutdown has dragged on longer than any in history.

The partial government shutdown is now the longest in history, as Saturday marks Day 22. The previous record was 21 days, set in the winter of 1995-96 when President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich were at odds over budget cuts.

Congress went home for the weekend, as some 800,000 federal workers are on furlough, and many have now gone without their first paycheck. Mortgages are held up, security personnel at airports are strained, Coast Guard families line up at a food pantry, and a large majority of the country says they feel the shutdown is "embarrassing."

President Trump and Democrats have not been negotiating since the president abruptly walked out of a meeting on Wednesday. On Friday, he held off on declaring a national emergency as an end run around Congress. Still, the White House is looking for money it could shift around to fund wall construction under an emergency declaration.

Here's the latest on the shutdown and its impact:

  • How is the shutdown affecting America? Let us count the ways.

    •
  • Federal workers: Furloughed employees rallied this week as shutdown frustration grew.

  • Homebuying: Some mortgage deals are in limbo.

  • Border Patrol: Senior officials make the case for an expanded "border barrier."

  • Transportation Security Administration: Families fear falling behind on bills and losing their homes.

  • Low-incoming housing: Thousands face the threat of eviction after Housing and Urban Development contracts expire.

  • The data: Here is where most illegal immigration occurs.

  • Fact check: Can Trump use emergency powers to build the wall?

    • Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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    Arnie Seipel
    Arnie Seipel is the Deputy Washington Editor for NPR. He oversees daily news coverage of politics and the inner workings of the federal government. Prior to this role, he edited politics coverage for seven years, leading NPR's reporting on the 2016, 2018 and 2020 elections. In between campaigns, Seipel edited coverage of Congress and the White House, and he coordinated coverage of major events including State of the Union addresses, Supreme Court confirmations and congressional hearings.
    See stories by Arnie Seipel

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