Government shutdown affects the school’s families
The Capitol building, home to Congress, has always been occupied by both Democrats and Republicans, but after last year’s midterms the Republicans now control the senate and the Democrats control the House, with this being one of the main reasons for this shutdown, as a solution for the border control issue has not been easy to agree on.
The 2018-2019 government shutdown was the longest ever recorded shutdown in United States history after 34 days.
Many of the school’s families were affected by the shutdown. Sophomore Jhoan Loaza’s father, who works in Homeland Security, has been out of work since the start of the shutdown.
“It’s really weird having my dad not work,” Loaza said. “On the bright side, I get to spend more time with him, as before I used to see him only at night.”
The previous longest government shutdown in U.S. history was from December 16, 1995, to January 6, 1996. The current government shutdown started on December 22, 2018 and ended on Friday, January 25. Many people were out of work and missed multiple paychecks.
“My mom had to take a second shift at her job for the time being,” sophomore Thomas Sharp said. “My dad didn’t get paid, and it doesn’t really seem like he will anytime soon. That’s how badly this shutdown has affected my family.”
President Donald Trump has reached an agreement with Democrats, on a compromise to open the government for three weeks, to negotiate on the border development. The president also said that if a deal is not reached within that period, he may close the government again and declare a national emergency.
President Donald Trump may even declare a national emergency, which will allow him to exercise executive authority over the ongoing dilemma on border control, and this could trigger more dispute over the issue.
The government shutdown did not only affect government officials. According to the National Taxi Drivers Alliance, more than 50 percent of taxi drivers in the Washington, D.C. area, experienced lesser fares than they are used to.
“My dad has been stressed out recently,” junior Ian Morane said. “He has lost over half his fares, and people need to know that this isn’t only affecting the government workers.”
Morane also feels that instead of our country going forward in bettering our country, we are going backwards and really worsening our country.
“I really do hope this shutdown ends soon,” Morane said in an interview before January 25. “I feel that it is making our country look really unorganized, and many people are facing economic problems and are out of work.”
