Shutdown becomes longest federal closure in US history

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Shutdown becomes longest federal closure in US history

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Slide 1 of 52: U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting on day 12 of the partial U.S. government shutdown at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 2, 2019.

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1/52 SLIDES  Jim Young/Reuters  


A partial US government shutdown began at midnight on Dec. 22, 2018,. when a funding agreement between the Congress and President Trump could not be reached.
(Pictured) President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting on day 12 of the partial U.S. government shutdown at the White House in Washington, on Jan. 2.

2/52 SLIDES  Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock


The East Front of the Capitol Building at sunset in Washington, on Jan. 11. The ongoing partial shutdown of the US federal government is on track to become the longest in US history.

3/52 SLIDES  Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock


President Trump, Chester County Sheriff Carolyn Bunny Welsh, left, and Jackson County Sheriff AJ Louderback, right, participates in a round table discussion on border security and safe communities with State, local and community leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, on Jan. 11.

4/52 SLIDES  Kevin Lamarque/Reuters


Virginia Democratic Senators Tim Kaine, third from left, and Mark Warner, fourth from left, listen as they meet with furloughed Virginia workers and others affected by the partial government shutdown in Alexandria, Virginia, on Jan. 11.

5/52 SLIDES  Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo


President Trump leads a round table discussion on border security with local leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, on Jan. 11.

6/52 SLIDES  Win McNamee/Getty Images


After missing their paycheck today, federal workers furloughed due to the partial government shutdown attend a job fair for substitute teacher positions held by the Fairfax County Public School system, on Jan. 11 in Falls Church, Virginia. 

7/52 SLIDES  Michael Dwyer/AP Photo


U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., center, speaks during a rally with government workers and their supporters in Boston, on Jan.11.

8/52 SLIDES  Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images


Protesters hold signs during a protest rally by government workers and concerned citizens against the government shutdown on Jan. 11 in Boston.

9/52 SLIDES  Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images


Protesters hold signs during a protest rally by government workers and concerned citizens against the government shutdown on Jan. 11, in Boston.

10/52 SLIDES  Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images


EPA employee Hugh Martinez attends a protest rally by government workers and concerned citizens against the government shutdown on Jan. 11, in Boston.

11/52 SLIDES  Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images


The Statue of George Washington outside the closed Federal Hall Memorial National Historic Site in Wall Street on Jan. 11.

12/52 SLIDES  Kevin Lamarque/Reuters


Cher Muzyk, who marched in yesterday's "Rally to End the Shutdown" outside the White House, poses with her twins at their home in Nokesville, Virginia, on Jan. 11.

13/52 SLIDES  Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo


Transportation Security Administration officers work at a checkpoint at O'Hare airport in Chicago, on Jan. 11.

14/52 SLIDES  Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images


Demonstrator hold signs during a protest rally by government workers and concerned citizens against the government shutdown on Jan. 11, in Boston.

15/52 SLIDES  Michael Dwyer/AP Photo


Protester holds a sign during a protest rally with government workers and their supporters in Boston, on Jan.11.

16/52 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


USDA employee Lona Powell, center, holds up her sign as she joins union members and other federal employees rally to call for an end to the shutdown, on Jan. 10, at AFL-CIO Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

17/52 SLIDES  Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images


President Donald Trump speaks with Border Patrol agents next to Sen. John Cornyn, left, (R-TX) near the Rio Grande after his visit to McAllen Station in Texas, on Jan. 10. Trump traveled to the US-Mexico border as part of his all-out offensive to build a wall, a day after he stormed out of negotiations when Democratic opponents refused to agree to fund the project in exchange for an end to a painful shutdown.

18/52 SLIDES  Rick Bowmer/AP Photo


People gather during a federal workers protest rally on Jan. 10 in Ogden, Utah. The shutdown, which will enter its 21st day Friday, will be the longest in history by this weekend and is forcing many American families to make tough decisions.

19/52 SLIDES  Andrew Harnik/AP Photo


Air Traffic and pilot unions members protest the government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 10.

20/52 SLIDES  Kiichiro Sato/AP Photo


Government workers rally against the shutdown at Federal Plaza, on Jan. 10 in Chicago. The shutdown continues to drag on with hundreds of thousands of federal workers off the job or working without pay as the border wall fight persists.

21/52 SLIDES  Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo


President Donald Trump gestures as reporters raise their hands while he speaks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House, Jan. 10, en route for a trip to the border in Texas as the shutdown continues.

22/52 SLIDES  Jane Ross/Reuters


Construction vehicles block the entrance to Harmony Borax Works, a Death Valley National Park historical site, which is closed during the shutdown, on Jan. 10.

23/52 SLIDES  Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock


US Speaker of the House Democrat Nancy Pelosi holds a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Jan. 10.

24/52 SLIDES  Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images


Union workers demonstrate against the government shutdown on Jan. 10, in Washington, DC.

25/52 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Union members and other federal employees rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 at AFL-CIO Headquarters in Washington.

26/52 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Union members and other federal employees rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 in Washington.

27/52 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., speaks to union members and other federal employees at a rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 in Washington.

28/52 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Union members and other federal employees rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 in Washington.

29/52 SLIDES  Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


Union members and other federal employees rally to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, on Jan. 10 in Washington.

30/52 SLIDES  Carlos Barria/Reuters


A demonstrator holds a sign, signifying hundreds of thousands of federal employees who won’t be receiving their paychecks as a result of the partial government shutdown, during a “Rally to End the Shutdown” in Washington, on Jan. 10.

31/52 SLIDES  Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images


Union workers demonstrate against the government shutdown on Jan. 10, in Washington, DC.

32/52 SLIDES  Joshua Roberts/Reuters


U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speak to the news media along with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (L) and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (R-Rear) as they depart the West Wing after meeting with President Donald Trump about the U.S. government partial shutdown and his demand for a border wall in the Situation Room at the White House in Washington, on Jan 9.

33/52 SLIDES  Carlos Barria/Reuters


Vice President Mike Pence speaks to reporters with Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and U.S Senator John Thune (R-SD) after a meeting with President Donald Trump and Congressional Democrats about the U.S. government partial shutdown and the president's demand for a border wall in the Situation Room at the White House in Washington, on Jan. 9.

34/52 SLIDES  Jim Young/Reuters


U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he stands with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Vice President Mike Pence and other members of the Republican Senate leadership as the president departs after addressing a closed Senate Republican policy lunch while a partial government shutdown enters its 19th day on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Jan. 9.

35/52 SLIDES  Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty Images


U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA 3rd District) speaks during a non-partisan rally protesting the Federal Government Shutdown at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, on Jan. 8.

36/52 SLIDES  Mark Makela/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers and area elected officials hold a protest rally in front of Independence Hall on Jan. 8 in Philadelphia.

37/52 SLIDES  Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers, joined by elected officials, hold up sings to protest the federal government shutdown during a non-partisan rally at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, on Jan. 8.

38/52 SLIDES  Julio Cortez/AP Photo


Federal Aviation Administration employee Michael Jessie, who is currently working without pay as an aviation safety inspector for New York international field office overseeing foreign air carriers, holds a sign while attending a news conference at Newark Liberty International Airport, on Jan. 8, in Newark, N.J.

39/52 SLIDES  Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers, joined by elected officials, hold up sings to protest the federal government shutdown during a non-partisan rally at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, on Jan. 8.

40/52 SLIDES  Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers, joined by elected officials, protest the federal government shutdown during a non-partisan rally at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, on Jan. 8.

41/52 SLIDES  Mark Makela/Getty Images


(C) David Fitzpatrick, 64, a Park Ranger, holds an American flag and a placard, during a protest rally in front of Independence Hall on Jan. 8 in Philadelphia.

42/52 SLIDES  Mark Makela/Getty Images


Furloughed federal workers and area elected officials hold a protest rally in front of Independence Hall on Jan. 8 in Philadelphia.

43/52 SLIDES  Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images


Aerial view of Trump's border wall prototypes as seen from Tijuana, in Baja California state, Mexico, on Jan. 7.

44/52 SLIDES  Kevin Lamarque/Reuters


A group passes in front of the White House Visitor Center, now closed due to the partial government shutdown in Washington, on Jan. 7.

45/52 SLIDES  Jim Young/Reuters


The entrance to the Smithsonian's National Gallery of Art is padlocked as a partial government shutdown continues, in Washington, on Jan. 7.

46/52 SLIDES  Jonathan Ernst/Reuters


Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) addresses the partial federal shutdown with residents of the Pickersgill Retirement Community in Towson, Maryland, on Jan. 7.

47/52 SLIDES  Mike Segar/Reuters


A closed sign is seen on a fence at the General Grant National Memorial, for former President Ulysses S. Grant, as the partial government shutdown continues, in Manhattan, New York City on Jan. 7.

48/52 SLIDES  Erik S Lesser/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock


A Transportation Security Agency (TSA) agent checks the identification of air travelers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 7.

49/52 SLIDES  J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo


A police officer and K-9 do a routine security check at the Capitol as the partial government shutdown lurches into a third week with President Trump standing firm in his border wall funding demands, in Washington, on Jan. 7.

50/52 SLIDES  Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images


President Trump speaks to the press as he departs the White House in Washington, on Jan. 6, for meetings at Camp David.

51/52 SLIDES  Matt McClain/The Washington Post/Getty Images


A pedestrian climbs back over a fence leading to Theodore Roosevelt Island that was closed due to the government shutdown on Jan. 6 in Arlington, VA.

52/52 SLIDES  Joshua Roberts/Reuters


President Trump is applauded by members of Congress and other attendees as he says he will not answer questions from reporters about an impending U.S. Government shutdown during a bill signing ceremony for the “First Step Act” and the “Juvenile Justice Reform Act” in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on Dec. 21.

52/52 SLIDES

Slideshow by Photo Services

WASHINGTON — The partial government shutdown became the longest closure in U.S. history at when the clock ticked past midnight Friday as President Donald Trump and nervous Republicans scrambled to find a way out of the mess.

A solution couldn't come soon enough for federal workers who got pay statements Friday but no pay.

The House and Senate voted to give federal workers back pay whenever the federal government reopens and then left town for the weekend, leaving the shutdown on track to become one for the record books once the clock struck midnight and the closure entered its 22nd day. And while Trump privately considered one dramatic escape route — declaring a national emergency to build the wall without a new stream of cash from Congress — members of his own party were fiercely debating that idea, and the president urged Congress to come up with another solution.

"What we're not looking to do right now is national emergency," Trump said. He insisted that he had the authority to do that, adding that he's "not going to do it so fast" because he'd still prefer to work a deal with Congress.

About 800,000 workers missed paychecks Friday, many receiving blank pay statements. Some posted photos of their empty earnings statements on social media as a rallying cry to end the shutdown, a jarring image that many in the White House feared could turn more voters against the president as he holds out for billions in new wall funding.

With polls showing Trump getting most of the blame for the shutdown, the administration accelerated planning for a possible emergency declaration to try to get around Congress and fund the wall from existing sources of federal revenue. The White House explored diverting money for wall construction from a range of other accounts. One idea being considered was diverting some of the $13.9 billion allocated to the Army Corps of Engineers after last year's deadly hurricanes and floods.

That option triggered an outcry from officials in Puerto Rico and some states recovering from natural disasters, and appeared to lose steam on Friday.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called it an "unconscionable" idea to look at using disaster assistance "to pay for an immoral wall that America doesn't need or want."

Republican Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas told reporters after discussions with the White House: "I feel confident disaster relief dollars will not be tapped." Brady said the administration was looking at the "breadth" of unspent dollars in other government accounts.

The Associated Press President Donald Trump attends a roundtable discussion on border security with local leaders, Friday Jan. 11, 2019, in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)  Other possibilities included tapping asset forfeiture funds, including money seized by the Department of Justice from drug kingpins, according to a congressional Republican not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. The White House also was eyeing military construction funds, another politically difficult choice because the money would be diverted from a backlog of hundreds of projects at bases around the nation.

Despite Trump's go-slow message, momentum grew in some corners for some sort of emergency declaration. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who met with the president on Friday, took to Twitter afterward to urge: "Mr. President, Declare a national emergency NOW. Build a wall NOW."

Trump has been counseled by outside advisers to move toward a national emergency declaration, but many in the White House are trying to pump the brakes. Senior aide Jared Kushner, who traveled with the president to the Texas border on Thursday, was among those opposed to the declaration, arguing to the president that pursuing a broader immigration deal was a better option. A person familiar with White House thinking said that in meetings this week, the message was that the administration is in no rush and wants to consider various options. The person was unauthorized to discuss private sessions and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has signaled moral opposition to the wall and vowed to oppose any funding, said the president is seeking to divert attention from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and other White House problems.

"This isn't a wall between Mexico and the United States. This is a wall between his failures of his administration," Pelosi told reporters. "This is a big diversion, and he's a master of diversion."

Although Trump has been frustrated with aides as he loses the public relations battle over the shutdown, White House attempts to use the trappings of the presidency to buttress his case for the wall have yielded mixed results in the president's view.

Trump has long avoided using the Oval Office as a backdrop for his speeches, telling aides that previous presidents looked stilted and "flat" in the standard, straight-ahead camera angle. But he was persuaded that the seriousness of the moment warranted the Oval Office for his speech to the nation this week about the fight over the border wall.

But since Tuesday night's address, Trump has complained that he looked lifeless and boring, according to a Republican close to the White House who was not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. The president also expressed misgivings about his visit to the border, believing it would do little to change anyone's mind.

In a Friday morning tweet, Trump called illegal immigration on the southern border "an invasion," even though border crossings have declined in recent years. Later, he tried to blame Democrats for the shutdown, claiming he's flexible about the needed barrier.

"I don't care what they name it," Trump said. "They can name it 'peaches.'"

Trump has told advisers he believes the fight for the wall — even if it never yields the requested funding — is a political win for him.

But some of his outside advisers have urged him to declare a national emergency, believing it would have two benefits: First, it would allow him to claim that he was the one to act to reopen the government. Second, inevitable legal challenges would send the matter to court, allowing Trump to continue the fight for the wall — and continue to excite his supporters — while not actually closing the government or immediately requiring him to start construction.

Such a move could put Republicans in a bind. While it might end the standoff over funding and allow Congress to move onto other priorities, some Republicans believe such a declaration would usurp congressional power and could lead future Democratic presidents to make similar moves to advance liberal priorities.

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who speaks to Trump frequently, said that unless Republicans and Democrats strike an unlikely compromise, "I fully expect him to declare a national emergency."

"Most conservatives want it to be the last resort he would use," Meadows said. "But those same conservatives, I'm sure if it's deployed, would embrace him as having done all he could do to negotiate with Democrats."

Many Democrats, meanwhile, say they have little reason to give into Trump's demand for border wall funding since taking control of the House in the midterm elections.

"The American people gave us the majority based on our comprehensive approach to this problem and they rejected President Trump's," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.



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