US government’s partial shutdown becomes longest ever
- And no end in sight to row between President Trump and Democrats over wall funding, the cause of the record shutdown
The US government shutdown that has left 800,000 federal employees without pay amid President Donald Trump’s row with Democrats over building a Mexico border wall entered a record 22nd day on Saturday.
The Democrats’ refusal to approve US$5.7 billion demanded by Trump for the wall project has paralysed Washington, with the president retaliating by refusing to sign off on budgets for some government departments unrelated to the dispute.
As a result, workers including FBI agents, air traffic controllers and museum staff, did not receive their wages on Friday.
The partial shutdown of the government became the longest on record at midnight on Friday when it overtook the 21-day stretch in 1995-1996 under president Bill Clinton.
The missed cheques turned out to be particularly cruel for nearly three dozen employees at an obscure government agency. The division that processes pay cheques for a big chunk of the government workforce mistakenly paid about 30 employees at the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. Within hours, the workers were quickly sent an email asking them not to spend the money.