The Longest Government Shutdown

The 2018–2019 government shutdown under President Trump recently made history as the longest the U.S. has operated under a shutdown. The conflict arose after Congress refused to sign off on a proposed $5.7 billion dollar budget asked for by Trump to fund his US/Mexico border wall project in a matter that he claims is of national security.

After 35 days, the President finally ended the shutdown without receiving his funds. However, he said the re-opening was only temporary and the state of the government will be re-evaluated on February 15, at which time he claimed that if he still doesn’t receive the budget he asked for, he will either shut down the government again or declare a state of national emergency in order to re-allocate the necessary funds from an existing federal budget to fund the border wall project. Below is a storymap of the event with more information.