Trump Has Four Days Before People Start Missing Paychecks
President Donald Trump says he’s prepared to keep part of the U.S. government shut down for more than a year if necessary to get the money he wants for a wall on the Mexican border.
But a series of deadlines over the next seven weeks will increase pressure on Trump to cut a deal to end a shutdown that could soon become the longest in history. Hundreds of thousands of workers at nine Cabinet departments and other agencies will soon start to miss paychecks, and the longer the standoff continues, the more consequences Trump and Congress will face — including shuttered courts, filth piling up in National Parks, and delayed tax refunds.
Later in the year, unrelated issues will compound the shutdown’s problems — the U.S. debt limit will need to be increased, and Congress will have to strike a deal with Trump to prevent steep, automatic cuts in federal spending.