The close of yet another interesting week in U.S politics, saw President Donald Trump sign the order which finally put an end to the longest government shutdown in history.
By signing the agreement which does not include the funding for his much-hyped and deeply divisive wall along the southern border with Mexico, Trump is deemed to have been defeated.
Whilst House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be seen as the winner in this episode, but it is in the opinion of this writer that there are no winners in all this ghastly entrenchment, and if anything there has only been losers.
Government Workers Hit Hardest
A day before Trump announced the shutdown, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said he didn’t “quite understand” why workers had to visit food banks and instead encouraged the unpaid federal employees to apply for loans from credit unions and banks. Pelosi’s remark of “Is this the ‘let them eat cake’ kind of attitude? Or call your father for money?” seemed to resonate with the North American public.
The Trump administration was largely held responsible for the prolonged shutdown. Public disapproval of Trump performance rose by five percentage points to 58%. 800,000 Government employees missed a second paycheck on Friday morning, At the same time, flights began being delayed by federal aviation officials and people across the country were being hit by the 35 day shutdown
Trump No Closer To His Wall
After all has been said and done, Trump is no closer to his wall. Trump said on Friday:
“Let me be very clear, we really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier. If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on 15 February again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the law and the constitution of the US to address this emergency.”
So, the next round continues. Pelosi supposedly won round the first round. However, can Trump get his wall next month? probably not, and the 800,000 government officials along with the rest of the U.S. public should be concerned.
