Trump waited 5 weeks to get nothing out of the shutdown
President Trump could've given up on his border wall five weeks ago, and the only difference would've been how many American lives he disrupted.
On Friday, Trump announced he and Congress had agreed to a deal to end the longest ever government shutdown, coming after a lack of federal employees had closed one of America's busiest airports. The deal reopens the government until Feb. 15, contains no additional money for a border wall, and basically makes Trump's entire 35-day-long holdout worthless, conservative critics said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On their first day in the majority, House Democrats passed wall funding-less bills to reopen most of the government until the end of the year. They would only fund Homeland Security for a month, giving Trump a quick chance to renegotiate his wall. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wouldn't bring them for a vote because he said Trump wouldn't sign them, so the House passed similar bills again to no avail. Rinse and repeat until two Senate bills, one from Trump with his original $5.7 billion desire and one from Democrats with nothing, failed Thursday. Funny enough, the Democratic bill looks awfully similar to the deal Trump publicly agreed to pass Friday.
To break it down, Trump could've had $1.6 billion for border security and made a deal with Democrats in two weeks. But for now, he has nothing but a dismally sunken approval rating and 800,000 federal workers in need of a long-overdue paycheck that totals more than his $5.7 billion wall demand itself.
-
‘Lumpy skin’ protests intensify across France as farmers fight cullIN THE SPOTLIGHT A bovine outbreak coupled with ongoing governmental frustrations is causing major problems for French civil society
-
The best books of 2025The Week Recommends A deep dive into the site of a mass shooting, a new release from the author of ‘Atonement’ and more
-
Inside Minnesota’s extensive fraud schemesThe Explainer The fraud allegedly goes back to the Covid-19 pandemic
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
