The 2018 shutdown of the United States federal government began at midnight EST on Saturday, January 20th and ended on the evening of Monday, January 22nd and it was a hot topic which was being discussed worldwide. Much of the blame has been directed to Donald Trump and the Republicans in general but also towards the American political system.
Congress failed to pass a new government funding law before the old one expired thus the shutdown began. Democrats and Republicans disagreed about DACA (Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals). This program protects unauthorized immigrants that were brought to the US as children. The Trump administration decided to end this program. As a reaction to that the Democrats said they would withhold their support on new funding laws unless there was some progress on a deal protecting the DACA recipients.
A government shutdown does not mean that the entire government shuts down, military and law enforcement activities continued. Furthermore, social checks were still sent out and air traffic controllers went to work as well. However, nonessential activities were halted and employees were furloughed. It was an inconvenience to the people. Hashtag #TrumpShutdown was the top trending hashtag on Saturday.
The government has shut down 18 times in modern history but Trump is the first president to suffer a shutdown despite the fact that his party controls both houses of Congress. What’s more, the shutdown began on the anniversary of Trump taking office one year ago. Democrats agreed to end the shutdown after promises made by the Republicans regarding DACA. The shutdown ended with a new law for funding for the next two and half weeks. Democrats and Republicans will try to reach an agreement by February the 8th.
President Donald Trump said, after the shutdown, that it was a big win for him and his party. According to him, the Democrats caved in and the White House went on to publicly blame the Democrats for the shutdown. Allegedly they even had a message on the answering machine saying they can´t answer the phone right now because the Democrats are keeping the funding hostage.
GLOSSARY
government shutdown (ˈgʌvənmənt ʃʌtdaʊn) – die Stillegung der Regierung
EST – Eastern Standard Time
evening (ˈi:vnɪŋ) – der Abend
blame (bleɪm) – die Schuld
in general (in ˈʤenərəl) – allgemein, grundsätzlic, generell
funding law (ˈfʌndɪŋ lɔ:) – das Förderungsgesetz, Aufbringung von Mitteln
to expire (ɪkˈspaɪəʳ) – ablaufen, enden
to defer (dɪˈfɜ:ʳ) – verschieben, verzögern, vertagen
to withhold (wɪθˈhəʊld) – etw zurückalten, vorenthalten
recipient (rəˈsɪpiənt) – der Empfänger
law enforcement (lɔ: ɪnˈfɔ:smənt) – die Strafverfolgung, der Gesetztesvollzug
employee (ɪmˈplɔɪi:) – der/die Angestellte, Mitarbeiter/in
to furlough (ˈfɜ:ləʊ) – jdn beurlauben
inconvenience (ˌɪnkənˈvi:niən(t)s) – die Unannehmlichkeit
despite (dɪˈspaɪt) – trotz
to take office (teɪk ˈɒfɪs) – sein Amt antreten, ein Amt übernehmen
to cave in (keɪv ɪn) – einbrechen, nachgeben, klein beigeben