So far within the first month of the new year, the United States has had its longest government shutdown in its history. The recorded amount of days has totaled to 35 days.

The shutdown has impacted many federal employees who worked without receiving pay, causing many protests in Washington. The main debate that started the shutdown was the unsettlement between Trump and his administration and the Democratic majority in the houses of Congress.

Many federal departments, national parks, or any other federal services are closed until the shutdown is lifted, which can cause citizens who rely on services have to wait until an agreement can be made.

The government shutdown has gone so far as to the potential cancellation of the 2019 state of the union address. With the shutdown in place the current date for the state of the union address has been set back for February 5^th.

On January 26^th 2019, Donald Trump temporarily ended the longest government shutdown in U.S history, but the time is limited until it could start again. Currently Congress and the president are still trying to come to a compromise to officially end the shutdown.

One of the causes as to why negotiations are rough are because of Trump’s desire to secure border security by constructing a border wall between Mexico and the U.S. Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, is a main challenger in Trump’s plan to secure the border.

It was Nancy Pelosi’s decision to delay the state of the union address, which was a decisive factor for Trump to reopen the government to save his position for reelection in 2020. A president who refused to open the government and to not appear in the state of the union may not get a majority support from the people for election in the following year.