By Ben Chaddha ‘21, Staff Writer

At 35 days in length, the third government shutdown under the Trump Administration was the longest in American history. The shutdown began at midnight on December 22, 2018 when a little less than a quarter of government funding ran out, and ended on the 25th of January, 2019.

Since President Donald Trump began campaigning almost four years ago in 2015, he promised a wall along the U.S. Mexico border to prevent undocumented people from crossing the border. Up until this point Trump has been unable to deliver on this front; this has been the main cause of the shutdown.

The shutdown occurred when Trump and Congress were unable to reach an agreement for funding of the wall which is estimated to be another  5-7 billion dollars tacked onto the U.S.’s already astronomically high spending bill which is about 3 trillion dollars. Furthermore the money requested would only allow for an additional 234 miles of steel fencing added to the 580 miles currently on the border. This amount still leaves a significant amount, about 1200 miles, unfenced.

On January 8th, 18 days into the shutdown, Trump threatened to declare a national emergency in order to free up the funding required for the border wall. At 22 days long, on January 12, 2019, the government shutdown officially became the longest shutdown in U.S. History, leaving over 800,000 government workers including TSA officers, border control, and National Park Rangers without pay. On January 19th, Trump offered the Democrats a deal to end the shutdown – a three year extension to the DACA policy under the Obama Administration in exchange for the money for the wall – a deal that both Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer declined. Schumer stated that the offer was “not a compromise but more hostage taking(Bloomberg).”

In today’s world, a government shutdown is considered to be embarrassing and costly which raises the question of how and why did this shutdown continue for 35 days? How is it possible for one of the world’s most powerful countries to decay so quickly into childish and petty exchanges? According to the Economist, the answer lies in a note written in 1980 by attorney general Benjamin Civiletti. Preceding 1980, when there were government funding gaps due to disagreements and disputes between government officials, the entire government was still able to operate without spending too much money.

The Antideficiency Act was enacted in 1884 and amended in 1950 and 1982. The act concerns expenditures of government agencies. Congress has the responsibility of appropriating funds for all executive agencies and directing where such funds can be spent. The Antideficiency Act forces federal employees to comply with these “suggestions” and prevents these agencies on spending the money on anything other than what Congress has authorized.

Benjamin Civiletti suggested that the only way to avoid such violations on expenditures was to shut down all operation until the funding is received. National Agencies concerning public safety were the only group not considered; still these workers were required to work, but usually were not receiving compensation. Although Civiletti’s assertion made government shutdowns less common, it also made them into a “hostage-taking mechanism” as stated by the Economist. This is important to note because the President is essentially able to withhold workers’ funding and pay until he gets what he wants.

Back to 2019, the government shutdown is leading to many unforeseen tragedies and events. For example, Park Rangers are not working in the National Parks. This is important for many reasons. The Park Rangers are responsible for controlling and regulating people in the given park. Joshua Tree National Park contains a very fragile ecosystem that does not exist elsewhere in the world and needs to be protected by Park Rangers. But with no Park Rangers, there are not enough people to protect the beauty of the park. Tourists of the park cut down Joshua Trees so they could drive into more sensitive areas of the park where vehicles are not permitted. In Yosemite National Park on December 25th, a man slipped and fell to his death.

On January 3, 2019, in Atlanta Airport, a woman boarded a plane with a firearm in her suitcase. This was caused by TSA failing to follow security procedures. Under the government shutdown, TSA officers have been required to work without pay and many have been calling in sick and not showing up to work. Many TSA officers were unable to work because they are unable to pay for child care for their children while they are working.

As the shutdown dragged into its 5th week, many of Trump’s supporters began to lose patience. At that point, many polls, like the one conducted by Hills-HarrisonX showed that the public blames Trump for the shutdown and many of Trump’s advisors are looking for a way to return the government back to normal. With hundreds of thousands of families affected, many Americans are glad to see the government back up and running.