Going into winter break, the government had been shut down. This was the 3rd shutdown of 2018, and it is now continuing into 2019. The main reason for this shutdown is the funding for President Trump’s border wall.

Trump wants $5.7 million dollars to fund the border wall, but it is not being approved. His only solution for this was to shut down the government.

Government shutdowns affect the people of the United States in many ways. Many agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, Department of Disease, Department of Defense, and Congress are all affected by this shutdown. Also, people on government aid and welfare will have scaled back benefits.

Luckily, over 150 Veteran Affairs hospitals will stay open along with most national parks (but with no working employees and buildings, such as information and research centers, will be closed).

As of early morning, on January 4th, 2019, House Democrats voted to reopen the government without the funding of the border wall. The bill would reopen funding for 8 closed United States departments. Congress would still keep 9 other departments closed, along with no funding for the wall.