Words by Roman White
As day three of the government shutdown becomes a reality, senators are expected to cast their votes at noon on Monday to potentially end the shutdown, but it is not certain that this will happen. Government officials made their rounds on the Sunday news shows to point fingers across the aisle on who’s to blame for the shutdown, with Congressional republicans like Paul Ryan blaming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin blaming Senate Republicans.
Although republicans are blaming democrats for the shutdown, it is worth noting that four republicans voted against the latest deal to avoid the shutdown and five democrats voted for the bill to avoid the shutdown. Also, republicans have the majority in both the House and the Senate while still controlling the presidency.
The shutdown started from a lack of agreement on an immigration policy and budget agreement. Trying to fulfill a campaign promise, President Donald Trump wants enough funding to build a border wall on the Mexico-USA border in hopes that it will decrease drug imports and lower crime rates in the United States.
In return, democrats and even many republicans want funding for DACA, a program that helps “dreamers” who were brought into this country illegally as very young kids avoid deportation. At one point, there was a bi-partisan deal that Senators Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin were ready to bring to a vote before Trump’s “shithole” comments derailed negotiations across the aisle.
The shutdown started at midnight on the 1-year anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration. In 2013, during a government shutdown in the Obama era, Trump as a private citizen suggested that the president would be to blame for a government shutdown. But now, as president himself, he seems to pass blame to others – a clear flip-flop from a previously held position.
