Right as President Donald Trump completed his first year in office, the United States government entered a shutdown.
On Saturday, Congress could not pass their annual budget because Democrats would not vote unless a resolution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was considered.
Trump blames Democrats and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York for the government shutdown, but Schumer blames Trump for going back on his word.
“Negotiating with this White House is like negotiating with jello — it is next to impossible,” Schumer said at a press conference.
On the floor of the Senate, Schumer called the shutdown “the Trump shutdown,” while Trump called it “the Schumer shutdown.”
Trump tweeted multiple times that he believes the Democrats do not care for U.S. citizens — only for non-citizens.
Michael Sances, a University of Memphis political science professor, said Congress passed a continuing resolution vote Jan. 19, and instead of creating an annual budget, they want to pass another continuing resolution.
“While the shutdown is immediately caused by the failure to pass a budget, a lot of this actually has to do with immigration and the impending expiration of the DACA program,” Sances said.
Preceding the vote for the budget, the decision to extinguish DACA was already put in place, Sances said. He said the media tried to pin the blame on a side of Congress, but the Republicans and Democrats played a part in the shutdown.
“As perverse as it sounds, the political parties have learned to use shutdowns as bargaining chips,” Sances said.
Democrats agreed Monday to vote on a continuing resolution, which keeps the government open until early February, and the Republican leader in the Senate agreed to reconsider an immigration bill.
Sances said federal workers would be affected the most by the shutdown.
“The hardest hit are federal employees, who are often placed on unpaid furlough,” Sances said. “In the last shutdown in 2013, these employees went a few weeks without pay and had to somehow make due with credit and savings.”
Brian Akerson, a veteran and 37-year-old junior history major at the U of M, said he fears the consequences of the government shutdown because his wife is an active-duty lieutenant in the Navy, and he receives veteran compensation benefits.
“In the last shutdown, the Congress had bills in place to protect military’s pay,” Akerson said. “This time, they’re holding millions of paychecks, and just like anyone else, we have bills to pay.”
Akerson said the shutdown puts stress on military families, and the government did it with no warning.
“I don’t understand how Congress could do this,” Akerson said. “They are putting illegal immigrants over their military.”
Akerson said he supports DACA and Dreamers, but Democrats should “not force that in a bill overnight.” He hopes the shutdown is not prolonged, and military personnel can get paid.
“You shouldn’t threaten the people who keep this country safe and sound,” Akerson said.
Congress passed a short-term measure Monday to end the government shutdown. After the Republicans in the Senate promised to discuss the future of the Dreamers, the Senate voted 81-18 to end the shutdown and fund the government until Feb. 8. Trump signed the legislation Monday afternoon.
