Happy New Year Fatima Kapasi
Fighting a virtual one-man messaging battle for his border wall, President Donald Trump is
growing frustrated that he doesn’t have more public defenders in his shutdown fight with
Congressional Democrats.
The government shutdown of 2018–2019 began at midnight EST on Saturday, December 22,
2018, and persists into 2019. The partial shutdown of the United States federal government
occurred because neither legislation appropriating funds for the upcoming fiscal year nor a
temporary continuing resolution was enacted in time.
Current Shutdown
The current shutdown began at midnight on December 21, 2018. As a result, about 400,000 non-
critical employees of nine agencies were sent home without pay. In past shutdowns, Congress
has reimbursed federal employees for lost wages.
Here is a breakdown of how many workers in each department were furloughed:
Homeland Security – 13 percent of 232,860 workers.
Justice – 17 percent of 114,154 workers.
1. Agriculture – 40 percent of 95,383 workers. February food stamps could be cut.
2. Treasury – 83 percent of 87,267 workers. Tax refunds could be delayed.
