Government Shutdown is fueled by stalemate over 5.7 billion border wall funding

National parks lay barren, loan approvals stack in towering piles — unstamped — and the pockets of some 800,000 furloughed federal government employees, whose pay had been temporarily deemed a nonessential expense for the 35 day duration, are shallow and weightless.

This was the reality of the government shutdown President Trump initiated on December 22 to try and secure 5.7 billion in funding for a U.S Mexico border wall — he has called the funding issue a national security concern, stating in his January 8 address that the shutdown persisted “because Democrats will not fund border security.”

Trump’s January 8 address.

The shutdown ended Jan 25, though Trump only agreed to a three week deal of reopening the government. He continues to push for more discussion on 5.7 billion in funding, and has stated that a continued stalemate would “renew the confrontation” or he would “declare a national emergency to bypass Congress altogether,” claimed an article in the New York Times.

Some questioned the president’s decision to shut down the government, and remark on the lack of productivity that would stem from it.

“A malfunctioning, unreliable government undermines confidence, pushes citizens and businesses to take costly measures to protect themselves against added uncertainty and risk, and deprives the public sector from obtaining the services of some talented workers who look elsewhere for employment,“

said Gary Burtless, an economist at the Brookings Institution.

Angela Kelley, 51, a furloughed worker for the Bureau of Land Management, commented on the lack of progress in an article by the New York Times. “This was all for nothing, basically.”

Kelley’s frustration arises from the unproductive nature of the shutdown: 35 days passed, federal employees were put out of work and yet the 5.7 billion dollars in funding Trump promised is yet to be allocated.

From a conservative standpoint: Mick Mulvaney, Chief of Staff at the White House, stated on an episode of Fox News Sunday on Jan 27:

“No one wants a government shutdown — it’s not a desired end. But when a president vetoes a bill that’s put in front of him on a spending package, sometimes that has the effect of shutting the government down.”

For conservatives like Mulvaney, border security is such a high priority that a shutdown to resolve a funding dispute is a necessary toll.

“We need border security — and that includes a barrier. “This [shutdown] is just a next step in the negotiation.”

Trump didn’t comment on a projected loss of revenue in his Jan. 8 address, though data from the Congressional Budget Office stated that 11 million dollars was lost overall in the shutdown. Most of that loss is estimated to return with the federal employees returning to work, but three billion in economic activity was deemed permanently lossed.

To see data from the New York Times on values of labor lossed, refer to the graph to the right. Retrieved from federal salary data from The Office of Personnel Management.

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