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Undated: In United States politics, a government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass sufficient appropriation bills or continuing resolutions to fund federal government operations and agencies, or when the President refuses to sign into law such bills or resolutions. In such cases, the current interpretation of the Antideficiency Act requires that the federal government begin a "shutdown" of the affected activities involving the furlough of non-essential personnel and curtailment of agency activities and services. Essential employees are still required to work without pay until the government reopens, when they may then receive back pay. These employees may include medical professionals in the Veterans Hospitals and TSA agents.

Since 1976, when the current budget and appropriations process was enacted, there have been 22 gaps in budget funding, 10 of which led to federal employees being furloughed. Prior to 1990, funding gaps did not always lead to government shutdowns, but since 1990 the practice has been to shut down the government for all funding gaps. Shutdowns have also occurred at the state, territorial, and local levels of government.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_United_States

Undated: Pay & Leave Furlough Guidance
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/furlough-guidance/

-- 2017 --

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February 16: Judge Orders Double Pay for Thousands of Federal Workers Affected By 2013 Shutdown ... About 25,000 are in line for damages. Roughly 200,000 didn’t opt in and will miss out.
https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-02-16/judge-orders-double-pay-for-thousands-of-federal-workers-affected-by-2013-shutdown

November 15: People are underrating the odds of a government shutdown in December
http://www.businessinsider.com/government-shutdown-odds-in-december-are-underrated-2017-11

November 28: Top Democrats snub Trump meeting after president says 'I don't see a deal'

-- Pelosi and Schumer to deal directly with Republicans in bid to avert shutdown

-- Trump suggests he’s unwilling to negotiate on healthcare and immigration
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/28/democrats-pelosi-schumer-trump-meeting

December 4: Democratic leaders in Congress on Monday accepted an invitation to meet U.S. President Donald Trump and Republicans for talks to avert a government shutdown this week, even as the Democrats pressed demands on funding priorities and protecting young immigrants.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-shutdown/democrats-to-join-trump-republicans-in-talks-to-avert-government-shutdown-idUSKBN1DY2IH

December 5: Democrats have a rare chance to win major concessions in a U.S. Congress they do not control by taking advantage of a battle within the Republican Party over keeping the government open.

With a Friday deadline looming when most funding for federal agencies runs out, Democrats finally have some clout. But their power is strongest while the Republicans in Congress remain fractured and fighting.

The showdown with Republicans could come to a head on Thursday when Democrats are expected to press their demands to President Donald Trump at a White House meeting.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-shutdown/democrats-flex-muscles-as-congress-confronts-a-government-shutdown-idUSKBN1DZ340

December 7: The House and Senate passed legislation Thursday to fund the government through December 22, removing the threat of a disruption to federal agencies for two weeks while Republican and Democratic leaders work to resolve a tough set of policy differences that would allow them to pass a long-term spending bill.

The votes came shortly after the top four Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress met with President Donald Trump and other officials at the White House to begin narrowing those differences.

But there was no clear evidence they made much headway.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/07/politics/trump-congress-year-end-talks/index.html

December 8: The White House and lawmakers said the bill will give them more time to negotiate several end-of-the-year agenda items, including the budget, a children’s health program and hurricane aid. Administration and congressional aides were continuing the talks on Friday.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-signs-2-week-spending-bill-to-avoid-government-shutdown"

December 20: Republicans drop Obamacare fix in rush to avert shutdown ... Friday deadline nears as GOP struggles to settle on spending strategy.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/20/congress-government-shutdown-2017-trump-306655

-- 2018 --

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January 18: A partial government shutdown could result in double pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers if Congress and President Trump don’t quickly agree to a spending package.

Federal funding runs out midnight Friday and a General Services Administration pay period ends the next day, meaning a shutdown lasting even one day — through Saturday — could trigger penalties under a Great Depression-era law.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/federal-workers-could-get-double-pay-if-theres-a-shutdown/article/2646344

January 19: President Donald Trump told Fox News in 2013 that the blame for a government shutdown ultimately goes to the president. [video]
http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/01/19/trump-government-shutdown-blame-sot-2013-fox-lead.cnn

January 19: Government begins shutting down as Congress races to agree on short-term spending bill
http://beta.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-congress-shutdown-20180119-story.html

January 19: House Republicans overcame a major obstacle late Thursday when the most conservative wing of the conference announced its support for the short-term spending measure to avoid a government shutdown. The measure passed the House on a mostly party line 230-197 vote.

But the fate of the measure is uncertain in the Senate where at least six Republican senators have come out against the measure and Democrats are confident they can block it from advancing.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gop-leaders-race-keep-party-together-avoid-government-shutdown-n838851

January 19: House-passed stopgap bill that would avoid a government shutdown fizzled out in the Senate late Friday night, leaving Congress negotiating frantically as the midnight deadline to fund the government passed.

The measure failed in a procedural vote by a 50 to 49 margin.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/19/government-shutdown-bill-fails-in-senate-after-house-passes-plan.html

January 20: After weeks of negotiating the federal budget, Republicans, Democrats and the White House couldn’t strike a deal but could agree on this: A government shutdown was a horrible idea, and if it happened, it would be the other side’s fault, 100 percent.

So, whose fault is it really? And maybe more importantly, who will the American people blame?
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/20/who-will-america-blame-216487

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January 20: One year to the day after taking office with vows to bring the dysfunction of Washington to heel, President Trump on Saturday found himself thrust into the most perennial of political crises, bitterly casting blame on Democrats for a government shutdown
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/20/us/politics/trump-shutdown.html

January 20: Members of Congress are still collecting paychecks during the government shutdown while lower-wage federal workers will go without pay.

Article I, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution allows the lawmakers to still get paid their salaries, despite the federal government being shut down due to their inability to reach an agreement.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jan/20/members-congress-still-get-paychecks-during-govern/

January 21: Democratic Whip Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois says that Democrats are working on a potential deal to fund the federal government to end the current shutdown on what he calls a "bipartisan basis."

"There's been a consistent failure by the Republican leadership in Congress to deal with these critical issues. We don't want to see this situation as it currently exists, but we want to see a solution that has meaning and one that will serve this nation. We're lurching from one continuing resolution to the next," said Durbin on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. 

While Democrats use the shutdown as leverage for immigration reform, Durbin said a shutdown was "not a good thing to do at any point."

"We have reached a desperate situation. This was the fourth continuing resolution. The Republican-controlled Congress has refused to fund the government, been unable to fund the government. They can't resolve the issues within their own ranks," he said. "And so they give us one continuing resolution after the next. And now we are piling up all the things that need to be done."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-sen-dick-durbin-says-democrats-want-bipartisan-deal/

January 21: Shutdown heads into day two with divides deepening
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/21/politics/donald-trump-government-shutdown-sunday-highlights/index.html

January 21: What really happens in the military during a shutdown
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/21/opinions/military-government-shutdown-hertling/index.html

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January 21: Members of Congress to donate pay during shutdown
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2018/01/members-congress-donate-pay-shutdown/

January 22: Government Shutdown: Here Is a List of Things You Can’t Do
http://www.newsweek.com/government-shutdown-here-list-things-you-cant-do-786418

January 22: Over the weekend, Americans calling the White House comments line discovered it was repeating this message:

"Thank you for calling the White House. Unfortunately, we cannot answer your call today because congressional Democrats are holding government funding — including funding for our troops and other national security priorities — hostage to an unrelated immigration debate.

Due to this obstruction, the Government is shut down. In the meantime, you can leave a comment for the president at www.whitehouse.gov/contact. We look forward to taking your calls as soon as the Government re-opens."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-22/white-house-answering-message-blames-democrats-shutdown/9348020

On Twitter:
... the White House comment line ... That's not governing by mature adults.
January 22
@dparkermontana

January 22: Congress managed to pull off the least disruptive shutdown in recent memory -- launched on a Friday night, ended by Monday afternoon. Despite weeks of arguing and days of negotiating, the whole thing amounts to little more than a one-day vacation for a half million federal employees who will almost certainly be reimbursed for their forced day off.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/22/government-shutdown-top-takeaways-washingtons-lost-weekend/1055006001/

January 22: As the third day of the shutdown dawned, liberal advocates and immigration groups fired off a joint statement blasting as "unacceptable" Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) offer to merely hold a vote on immigration — with no promises for action from the House or White House — in exchange for Democratic votes to reopen the government. But three hours later, Democratic senators agreed to just those terms — sparking anger on the left.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/22/government-shutdown-deal-liberals-angry-357268

January 22: A House Democrat tore into Senate Democrats on Monday for the deal to end the government shutdown, saying they did not “go to the mat” for immigrants the same way they would for same-sex marriage or national parks.

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) said in a statement Monday that the Senate’s deal, which postpones negotiations on a deal to protect Dreamers, was a missed opportunity. 

“If Republicans said we are ending same-sex marriage, but we promise Democrats a vote later; or we approve of oil drilling in every national park, but you’ll have a vote later - do you think the Democrats would say yes?” Gutiérrez said.
http://thehill.com/latino/370153-top-house-dem-senate-dems-didnt-go-to-the-mat-for-dreamers

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January 22: House votes to end government shutdown, sending legislation to Trump
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/trump-slams-democrats-as-third-day-of-government-shutdown-begins/2018/01/22/3a3eecf0-ff25-11e7-9d31-d72cf78dbeee_story.html?utm_term=.29b098117891

January 22: Trump signs bill to end government shutdown ...

"Once the government is funded, my administration will work toward solving the problem of very unfair illegal immigration," Trump said.

The bill funds the government for 17 days, and it funds the popular CHIP children's insurance program for six years. It does not include a permanent fix for the Obama-era DACA program, which Senate Democrats had originally demanded.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/22/trump-signs-bill-to-end-government-shutdown.html

February 5: House Republicans prepare to vote on short-term spending bill to keep government open ... House GOP leaders are moving ahead with a plan to keep the government funded into mid-March, but there's a catch that Democratic leaders aren't going to like.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/05/politics/spending-vote-government-spending/index.html

February 6: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he supports a government shutdown if Democrats won't agree to tighten immigration laws, undercutting ongoing bipartisan negotiations on Capitol Hill.

The comment, which came during a White House meeting on the violent MS-13 gang, was not well received in the room. Rep. Barbara Comstock, a Virginia Republican who represents a district with thousands of federal workers, confronted Trump about the remark and urged him to avoid another government shutdown.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/06/politics/government-shutdown-immigration-donald-trump/index.html

February 7: Senate leaders strike budget deal ahead of government shutdown deadline

The measure, negotiated between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, increases domestic spending by $63 billion and military spending by $80 billion for 2018 with larger increases in 2019. The spending levels completely eliminate the mandatory spending caps, otherwise known as sequestration, that have been imposed on both military and domestic spending since 2011.

“The budget caps agreement includes many Democratic priorities,” Pelosi said in a statement. “This morning, we took a measure of our Caucus because the package does nothing to advance bipartisan legislation to protect Dreamers in the House.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-leaders-strike-budget-deal-ahead-government-shutdown-deadline-n845491

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February 8: Another shutdown nears ... Sen. Rand Paul: Bipartisan spending deal is "utterly irresponsible"

"No American family lives the way your government does," he said, as he wrapped up his remarks. "It's completely and utterly irresponsible. So as we look at this debate, my hope is that both sides will come together and say, 'Enough is enough. This is the time. Tonight I say no.'"
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/08/politics/politics-latest/index.html

February 9: Shutdown ends after Trump signs budget deal  ... After Rand Paul’s blockade concluded, the Senate and House passed a sweeping budget deal.

After five and a half hours of a government shutdown, Congress passed a sweeping budget deal early Friday morning that will keep the doors open at federal agencies and lift stiff spending caps — giving Republicans another legislative victory, although it came at a high price.

At about 8:40 a.m. Friday, President Donald Trump tweeted that he "just signed Bill. Our Military will now be stronger than ever before. We love and need our Military and gave them everything — and more. First time this has happened in a long time. Also means JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!"
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/08/congress-massive-budget-deal-2018-398189

February 9: The bill sets up a two-year, $300 billion boost in spending on military and domestic programs. It also extends the debt ceiling, authorizes nearly $90 billion more in aid for last year's string of natural disasters, gives funding to fight the opioid crisis and extends the popular Children's Health Insurance Program for an additional four years.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/09/trump-signs-massive-spending-deal-into-law-and-ends-years-second-government-shutdown.html

February 9: "What makes Democrats proudest of this bill is that after a decade of cuts to programs that help the middle class, we have a dramatic reversal," Schumer said. "Funding for education, infrastructure, fighting drug abuse, and medical research will all, for the first time in years, get very significant increases, and we have placed Washington on a path to deliver more help to the middle class in the future."
https://www.voanews.com/a/house-senate-pass-budget-to-end-shutdown/4245930.html

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February 9: The [bipartisan] bill would reopen the government while showering hundreds of billions of dollars on defense and domestic priorities, speeding disaster aid to hurricane-hit regions, and lifting the federal borrowing limit for a year. While the legislation sets out broad budget numbers for the next two fiscal years, lawmakers face yet another deadline on March 23 — giving congressional appropriators time to write a detailed bill doling out funding to government agencies.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/congress-passes-sweeping-budget-bill-ending-brief-shutdown/2018/02/09/6021367e-0d69-11e8-8890-372e2047c935_story.html?utm_term=.55a1282951b3

February 9: The deal, the fifth temporary government funding measure for the fiscal year that began October 1, replenishes federal coffers until March 23, giving lawmakers more time to write a full-year budget.

It also extends the US government's borrowing authority until March 2019, sparing Washington politicians difficult votes on debt and deficits until after mid-term congressional elections in November.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/09/us-congress-votes-end-brief-shutdown-300-billion-funding-deal/

February 9: Many Democrats support the budget deal, but were unhappy with the compromise because it doesn't tackle immigration — specifically addressing the plight of DREAMers, including the roughly 700,000 immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally after being brought to the country as children and who are enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which is set to expire on March 5.

The House ultimately passed the measure on a bipartisan 240-186 vote just after 5:30 a.m. Only 73 Democrats voted for the bill; 67 Republicans voted against it.
https://www.npr.org/2018/02/09/584431561/government-funding-lapses-while-congress-looks-to-vote-on-budget-deal

July 29: President Donald Trump threatened to push the government into shutdown ahead of the coming appropriations deadline in September if Congress does not fund his border wall and change the nation's immigration laws.

"I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!" Trump tweeted Sunday.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/29/politics/donald-trump-shutdown-wall/index.html

November 28: President Trump says he would 'totally be willing' to shut down government over border wall
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/11/28/trump-shutdown-border-wall/2135563002/


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December 11: Trump Throws Down With Pelosi and Schumer Over Border Wall: ‘I Am Proud to Shut Down the Government’

President Donald Trump threatened to shut down the government during a heated argument with Democratic congressional leaders in the Oval Office on Tuesday in a remarkable display of partisan bickering just 10 days before a partial shutdown is set to take effect.

“I am proud to shut down the government for border security,” Trump said bluntly. “I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down, it didn’t work. I will take the mantle of shutting down. And I’m going to shut it down for border security.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-schumer-pelosi-devolve-into-shouting-match-during-oval-office-meeting

December 17: Trump’s Shutdown Is Hurting Trump’s Approval Rating

The president’s popularity has dropped below 40 percent amid what is now a six-day partial government shutdown over funding for Trump’s southern border wall, according to a poll from Morning Consult conducted from December 21 to 23. The last time Trump’s approval rating was this low was when he refused to condemn neo-Nazis after the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/12/trumps-shutdown-is-hurting-trumps-approval-rating.html

December 19: Senate leaders announce stopgap funding deal to avert shutdown
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mcconnell-announces-stopgap-funding-measure-would-avert-shutdown-n949821

December 19: Shutdown-Averting Deal Quickly Hits Oily Snag

A measure to extend spending authority for several Cabinet departments and assorted agencies through Feb. 8 was hung up in the Senate Wednesday afternoon over a spat involving the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other items left out of the stopgap.

That’s according to Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby, who expressed hope that senators could be convinced to let the measure through the chamber.

“I would hope that people will become rational and realize that the CR [continuing resolution] is clean. We want to keep it clean,” the Alabama Republican said. “We’ve fought to keep it clean, and the president I think has signaled explicitly that if it’s loaded up, he’s not going to sign it.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/shutdown-averting-deal-quickly-hits-oily-snag/ar-BBRbWKD

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December 22: Federal government partially shuts down amid impasse over border wall funding

It was unclear exactly how long the shutdown — which affects thousands of federal workers — would last, with negotiations slated to continue over the weekend.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/federal-government-partially-shuts-down-amid-impasse-over-border-wall-n951171

December 22: With the US under the first day of a partial government shutdown the Senate majority leader said would extend past Christmas, Donald Trump and Democrats sought to apportion the blame.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers were either forced to take unpaid time off or forced to work without pay. The president said they should “call it a Democrat shutdown”.

But Democratic leaders blamed Trump for a “temper tantrum” – and pointed out that only last week, the president said he would welcome a shutdown over border security and would in fact be proud to force one. [See December 11]
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/22/donald-trump-democrats-government-shutdown

December 22: The partial shutdown of the federal government that began just after midnight Saturday won't be ending anytime soon. The Senate has adjourned with no business in the chamber anticipated before Thursday afternoon and, maybe not even then, if congressional leaders and President Trump can't reach an agreement over the president's demand for $5 billion in funding for his border wall.

The House and Senate convened at noon Saturday, but no votes were scheduled and many lawmakers have already left town. House GOP leaders have advised lawmakers that they will be given 24 hours' notice of any planned vote.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put the burden on Trump to cut a deal with House and Senate Democratic leaders, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. "When those negotiations produce a solution that is acceptable to all of those parties, it will receive a vote here on the Senate floor," McConnell said.
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/22/679424044/government-shuts-down-ahead-of-holiday-over-stalemate-on-border-wall-funding?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20181221&utm_campaign=breakingnews&utm_term=nprnews

-- 2019 --

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January 4: Trump 'prepared' to force US government shutdown for over a year
https://www.france24.com/en/20190104-trump-prepared-force-government-shutdown-more-year-mexico-wall-migrants

January 6: President Donald Trump said Sunday that he "can relate" the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been without paychecks since the government entered a partial shutdown over two weeks ago.

"I can relate and I'm sure the people that are on the receiving end will make adjustments, they always do," Trump said to reporters as he left the White House for Camp David.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-said-he-can-relate-to-workers-not-paid-during-shutdown-2019-1

January 8: The partial government shutdown is now almost certain to deprive federal employees of at least one paycheck, a development that will ratchet up the political stakes higher than ever.

Even some people who are usually supportive of President Trump are worried about the potential consequences.

“He will have made his point to his supporters, and there will be trouble if he takes it any further than that,” said one GOP strategist with ties to the White House. “Real people are really hurting, and those stories can become overwhelming.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/the-memo/424254-the-memo-absent-paychecks-may-put-trump-in-bind

January 9: President Trump stormed out of a White House meeting with congressional leaders on Wednesday after Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would not fund a border wall even if he agreed to reopen the government, escalating a confrontation that has shuttered large portions of the government for 19 days and counting.

Stunned Democrats emerged from the meeting in the White House Situation Room declaring that the president had thrown a “temper tantrum” and slammed his hands on the table before leaving with an abrupt “bye-bye.” [Some] Republicans disputed the hand slam [some confirmed the abrupt departure] and blamed Democratic intransigence for prolonging the standoff .
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/09/us/politics/government-shutdown-trump-senate.html

January 9: Democrats Introduce Bill To Shield Unpaid Federal Workers From Lenders And Landlords

They couldn’t go after government workers or contractors who can’t pay rent or loans because of the shutdown.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/government-shutdown-creditors-landlords-workers_us_5c367351e4b045f676889f7b

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January 10: ‘Never been more depressed’: Trump kills Graham effort to end shutdown

The South Carolina senator and his GOP allies had been pushing to reopen the government and begin a broad immigration debate in the Senate.

President Donald Trump has rejected a plan proposed by a bloc of Senate Republicans who had hoped to break an impasse over the government shutdown, leaving Congress and the White House with little obvious way out of the extended battle over Trump's border wall.

On the 20th day of the shutdown, the GOP group tried to jump start bipartisan talks before Trump declares a national emergency to get his wall. But the president rejected their idea to allow congressional committees to sort out his border wall request while the government reopened, deeming the idea likely to leave him with nothing to show for the shutdown.

Vice President Mike Pence and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney had been consulting with senators about the matter on Thursday. Pence and Mulvaney took the idea to the president, who shot it down,
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/10/republican-senators-government-shutdown-1096118

January 10: Partial government shutdown timeline: From Trump's demands to Democrats' proposals
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/partial-government-shutdown-timeline-from-trumps-demands-to-democrats-proposals

January 10: Federal workers sue Trump administration over shutdown, allege work without pay violates 13th Amendment
https://thehill.com/regulation/424817-5-federal-workers-sue-over-shutdown-allege-work-without-pay-violates-13th

January 12: Trump's Shutdown Deadlock Succeeds In Building A Wall: Around Government Websites
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/01/12/trumps-shutdown-deadlock-succeeds-in-building-a-wall-around-government-websites/#5b5760cc1603

January 12: Democrats are struggling to come up with a way to provide back pay for low-wage contractors losing income because of the partial shutdown, a complicated process that hasn’t been tackled during previous government closures.

Contracted maintenance workers, cleaners, security guards and cafeteria staff at government buildings are among the hardest hit by the shutdown, which began Dec. 22.

Unlike the hundreds of thousands of affected federal employees who often receive back pay after a shutdown ends, low-wage contractors are not afforded compensation once the government reopens.
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/425015-dems-struggling-to-help-low-wage-contractors-harmed-by-shutdown

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January 16: Senate Democrats on Wednesday introduced legislation that would provide back pay to low-wage contractors affected by the government shutdown.

“This bill is about helping a group of people who are often invisible—people who work in the cafeterias, who clean offices after everyone else goes home, security guards who keep our buildings safe overnight,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), one of the bill’s sponsors.

Government agencies all contract with outside companies differently, and contracts can take hourly or lump sum forms. Some contracting companies are big, profitable companies that can shift workers around or continue paying them through a shutdown, while others are small operations that are forced to simply furlough their workers.

The legislation Democrats settled on aims to compensate those low-wage workers that show up to work in federal buildings every day, filling jobs that once would have been filled by direct government employees.

It would only apply to the set of contractors defined in existing legislation setting guidelines for federal contractors: the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act.

Those acts cover maintenance, security, food workers, custodians, construction and public works employees, as well as salaried administrative and professional workers, among others.

The maximum level of back pay the government would provide would be limited to $965 per week.

The legislation would also restore annual leave for the relevant contractors who were forced to use it during the shutdown.
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/425736-senate-dems-introduce-legislation-to-back-pay-low-wage-contractors

January 21: UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES ... Now Trump’s Shutdown Threatens Israel’s Security

The last thread of U.S.-Palestinian ties has been the American-trained and -equipped Palestinian security force, but Congress in its confusion is about to cut them off.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/now-trumps-shutdown-threatens-israels-security

January 22: The Supreme Court just weakened Trump's hand in government ...

The justices took no action Tuesday on a case before them concerning the legality of the administration's decision to end the Obama-era immigration policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

The inaction effectively allows the program to continue, reducing Trump's already limited leverage in a high-stakes impasse over money for his proposed border wall.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/22/supreme-court-takes-no-action-on-daca-weakens-trump-hand-in-shutdown-talks.html

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January 22: Trump may have lost the Dreamer issue as his main negotiating point on Tuesday [as regards the government shutdown] when the Supreme Court refused, at least during this term, to consider an administration appeal of lower court rulings allowing continued temporary protections for the immigrant youths.

Instead, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program established by then-President Barack Obama in 2012 lives on with or without approval by Congress.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shutdown/trump-plan-to-reopen-govt-build-border-wall-undercut-by-supreme-court-idUSKCN1PG235

January 22: U.S. Shutdown at Day 32 as Democrats Vow to Reject Trump Offer
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-22/u-s-shutdown-at-day-32-as-democrats-vow-to-reject-trump-offer

January 24: Fox News poll: 51 percent say Trump is most responsible for shutdown
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/426749-fox-news-poll-51-percent-say-trump-is-most-responsible-for-shutdown

January 24: In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, [Commerce Secretary Wilbur] Ross made waves by saying he does not understand why federal workers are visiting food banks during the partial government shutdown. He urged them to seek loans from banks and credit unions to supplement their lost wages.

“I know they are, and I don’t really quite understand why,” Ross said when asked about federal workers going to food banks. Ross is a billionaire and a longtime friend of President Trump’s.

His comment drew criticism from Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “Is this the ‘let them eat cake’ kind of attitude?” she said. “Or call your father for money?”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/wilbur-ross-says-furloughed-workers-should-take-out-a-loan-his-agencys-own-credit-union-is-charging-nearly-9-percent/2019/01/24/be1c9f1e-2020-11e9-8b59-0a28f2191131_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8b686e2b07fc

January 25: Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that grocery stores would “work along” with furloughed federal workers during the government shutdown.

However, Twitter users were quick to reality check the billionaire president for appearing to suggest that retailers would extend credit to the 800,000 employees who are either furloughed or working without pay. Many questioned the last time Trump set foot inside a supermarket, while others noted his past claim that shoppers need to show identification to buy groceries.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-grocery-stores-ridicule-online_us_5c4ab977e4b06ba6d3bbccdb

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January 26: Trump tried to clean up Wilbur Ross' tone-deaf comments on unpaid federal workers, didn't succeed

President Trump told reporters later Thursday that he hasn't "heard the statement, but I do understand that perhaps he should have said it differently." So Trump took a whack. In essence, he said local businesspeople would "work along" with unpaid federal employees, and he kept bringing up grocery stores.

The idea that a Walmart or Kroger or Safeway would give people food on personal credit (not credit cards) baffled a lot of people. Most of us "do not inhabit the world of Little House on the Prairie," noted New York's Sarah Jones. "Half Pint cannot go to the general store and place a dozen eggs on store credit until Pa's farm starts to make money."
https://theweek.com/speedreads/819750/trump-tried-clean-wilbur-ross-tonedeaf-comments-unpaid-federal-workers-didnt-succeed

January 25: Trump Concedes to Democrats After Month-Long Shutdown and Will Reopen the Government — Temporarily [for 3 weeks]
https://people.com/politics/trump-ends-government-shutdown-temporarily/

February 13: Another week in Washington comes with another chaotic scramble to prevent a government shutdown.

With a little more than two days to spare before funding lapses for the second time since December, confusion reigned Wednesday. Congress hurried to hash out text for spending legislation, as a few remaining snags held up the release of a final plan.

News outlets say President Donald Trump is expected to sign what lawmakers pass — even as Trump and his administration stress that he wants to see legislation before backing it. On Wednesday, the president said "we'll be looking for landmines" in the form of unwanted proposals once the plan is finished.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/13/trump-wont-commit-to-signing-border-security-deal-ahead-of-shutdown.html

May 26: The President of the United States is erratic, illiterate, and doesn’t want to know what he doesn’t know. The President has alienated former allies, befriended or courted murderous dictators, and has repeatedly brought the country to the brink of nuclear confrontation. The President lies constantly, knows that he is lying, and demands that Administration officials lie for him, and often they do. The President has waged war on the institutions of government, overseeing the gutting of the State Department and the destruction of other federal agencies by their own leaders, and effectively shut off media access to the Pentagon, the State Department, and the White House. The President has acted to thwart oversight of the Administration by other branches of government. The President has never made a secret of despising the government itself: he has called it a “swamp” and gleefully shut it down for thirty-five days, during a temper tantrum. The President has not only failed to divest himself of his businesses but has installed his children in and near the White House, openly using his office for personal financial gain. The President has debased political culture and language, using his bully pulpit to spew lies, hate, and personal insults
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-nancy-pelosis-tactics-affirm-the-trumpian-style-of-politics

November 21: Trump Signs Short-Term Spending Bill, Averting Government Shutdown
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/21/781646823/senate-sends-short-term-funding-measure-to-president-hours-before-government-shu

-- 2020 --

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