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The last time Trump refused to sign a spending bill because he didn’t like something in it over Christmas, the government was shut for 35 days, a record https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shutdown-idUSKCN1PJ126
About 800,000 government workers were forced to go without pay for weeks, and turned to crowdfunding and food banks to pay their bills and eat https://qz.com/1519556/unpaid-us-federal-workers-are-asking-for-donations-to-survive-through-the-shutdown/
This time an additional 14 million people on special unemployment benefits related to the Covid pandemic will be without income https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-economy-trump/trumps-covid-bill-delay-leaves-millions-of-desperate-americans-in-limbo-idUSL1N2J314Z
An eviction moratorium keeping millions from being thrown out of their homes also expires https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/24/covid-eviction-moratoriums-could-eventually-leave-americans-homeless/4018226001/
In late 2018, Trump was demanding border wall funding, after his administration blew up an earlier Congress immigration bill introduced by @LindseyGrahamSC that would have included that money https://qz.com/1491561/?utm_term=mucp
The shutdown that started in December 2018 cost the US $3 billion https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shutdown-economy-idUSKCN1PM1SL
Last time Trump folded on January 25, and signed a short term government spending bill that didn’t give him any wall extra money https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/25/trump-shutdown-announcement-1125529
In February 2019 he signed a longer term spending bill that also didn’t include extra wall money, but then ... https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/mcconnell-predicts-senate-passage-of-border-security-bill-hopes-trump-signs-it/2019/02/14/2f6e2cba-306f-11e9-8ad3-9a5b113ecd3c_story.html
...he declared a national emergency, taking billions for wall funding from military troop housing and local law-enforcement budgets at Dept of Treasury & Defense https://qz.com/1551867/trump-will-take-billions-meant-for-the-military-to-build-border-fencing/
This point of all this backstory is Trump has a history of trying (unsuccessfully) to use government shutdowns to achieve his aims.
But with the inauguration of @JoeBiden on Jan 20, and the Trump admin winding down, no one is sure of Trump’s goal here.
But with the inauguration of @JoeBiden on Jan 20, and the Trump admin winding down, no one is sure of Trump’s goal here.
As my father kept saying on the zoom call last night “Do we have to talk about Trump on Christmas?”
Yes, Dad, I’m afraid we do. /end
Yes, Dad, I’m afraid we do. /end
