Christmas shutdown: Why Washington let the government close
The government partially shut down at midnight Friday after Congress and the White House failed to agree on a spending package, the third shutdown this year. The sticking point: President Trump’s border wall.
Why did the government shut down?In many Republican leaders’ eyes, Friday was the GOP’s last chance to take the lead on budget negotiations before the start of the new session under a Democratic House. And by midweek, a deal seemed imminent.
On Thursday, however, a day before temporary funding was set to run out, Mr. Trump again doubled down on one of his key campaign promises: the wall at the Mexican border. He announced he wasn’t going to sign any bill without $5 billion to begin
Who does this affect?How many times has this happened before?How long will this one last?How do we stop this from happening again?