❝ A government shutdown sparked by a fight between President Donald Trump and Democrats over his demand for a border wall would have a smaller impact than others in recent years…
Among those facing a partial shutdown are the Homeland Security Department, though many of the agency’s law enforcement agents will remain on the job because they’re considered essential. National parks would remain open but most employees who maintain them would be sent home. The Securities and Exchange Commission would halt new investigations except where needed “for the protection of property.” The Defense Department is funded and would operate normally…
❝ A shutdown could be averted next week if lawmakers and the president agree to another short-term funding bill — that could last into January — or reach some kind of deal that allows all sides to claim victory…
❝ “I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it,” Trump said as the session turned tense. “And I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck.”
Offhand, I don’t recall any president who ever convinced American voters in general he was anything more than an ego-smitten idiot by shutting down the government. Trump is ready to prove he’s the worst of that lot.
Eideard 
“Republicans are girding themselves for a partial government shutdown, just in time for Christmas.” https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/421341-trump-leaves-gop-in-turmoil-with-shutdown-looming “The partial shutdown has grown more and more likely, they say, because of President Trump’s self-defeating comments at a White House meeting with congressional Democrats earlier this week about how he would accept blame for a shutdown caused by his demands for $5 billion in wall funding.
Two days later, the GOP has no plan for keeping the government open — or for escaping blame for a partial shutdown.
“There is no discernable plan, none that’s been disclosed,” Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (Texas) said when asked how President Trump and GOP leaders would avoid a shut down.”
The Senate intends to pass a short-term spending bill that would keep the government open through Feb. 8 but deny President Trump the money he wants for his border wall, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Wednesday. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-signals-it-might-accept-a-short-term-spending-bill-to-avert-shutdown/2018/12/19/63148a02-0395-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html?utm_term=.39e45f7c4cb1
The decision would temporarily resolve an impasse over Trump’s demands for wall funding that threatened to provoke a partial government shutdown this weekend, as funding runs out for the Homeland Security Department and a large swath of other federal agencies Friday at midnight.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Trump has indicated he is supportive, but he said the president could change his mind.
“The name “chicken” has its origins in a game in which two drivers drive towards each other on a collision course: one must swerve, or both may die in the crash, but if one driver swerves and the other does not, the one who swerved will be called a “chicken”, meaning a coward; this terminology is most prevalent in political science and economics.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_(game)#Chicken
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 4:31 AM – 21 Dec 2018: “Shutdown today if Democrats do not vote for Border Security!”
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 7:07 AM – 21 Dec 2018 “The Democrats now own the shutdown!”
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director and incoming Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told “Fox News Sunday” that the ongoing partial government shutdown will likely extend into the new year, as President Trump insists on funding for a border wall and “refuses to go along to get along.” https://www.foxnews.com/politics/partial-government-shutdown-will-likely-go-past-dec-27-mulvaney-says
According to “DHS officials” the total cost of a wall could be upwards of $25 billion https://www.foxnews.com/politics/heres-what-5-billion-in-border-wall-funding-would-buy
President Donald Trump said Tuesday the government won’t reopen until funding is secured for his border barrier (CNN 12/25/18) https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/25/politics/trump-shutdown-wall-january/index.html “I can’t tell you when the government is going to be open. I can tell you it’s not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they would like to call it,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Christmas day. “The only one that doesn’t want the wall are the Democrats, because they don’t mind open borders, but open borders mean massive amounts of crime,” he added.
Fox News host makes new year’s prediction: Trump’s border wall ‘is never going up’ https://thehill.com/homenews/media/422984-fox-news-host-makes-new-years-prediction-trumps-border-wall-is-never-going-up
President Donald Trump is getting blamed for the government shutdown, a new poll shows.
https://www.vox.com/2018/12/27/18157448/government-shutdown-trump-poll-approval
The president’s popularity has dropped below 40 percent amid what is now a six-day partial government shutdown over funding for Trump’s southern border wall, according to a poll from Morning Consult conducted from December 21 to 23. The last time Trump’s approval rating was this low was when he refused to condemn neo-Nazis after the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
Trump threatens to close border, terminate trade deals, cut aid unless wall is funded https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-threatens-to-close-border-terminate-trade-deals-cut-aid-unless-wall-is-funded Trump made the threats in a series of tweets on the seventh day of a partial government shutdown that entered its seventh day on Friday with no end in sight. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/423082-trump-threatens-to-close-southern-border-entirely-if-dems-dont-fund
“What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency : From seizing control of the internet to declaring martial law, President Trump may legally do all kinds of extraordinary things.” (Elizabeth Goitein, The Atlantic Jan/Feb 2019 issue) https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418/
See also NPR interview of Elizabeth Goitein of NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice about how a national emergency is defined and what powers become available after one is declared. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/with-a-national-emergency-could-trump-use-the-military-to-build-the-wall
President Truman declared an state of emergency and seized control of the country’s steel mills during the Korean War. It led to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/01/08/truman-declared-an-emergency-when-he-felt-thwarted-trump-should-know-it-didnt-end-well/?utm_term=.f6c70ac446b7
“The two-week-old partial government shutdown could significantly reduce food stamps for nearly 40 million Americans and freeze or delay more than $140 billion in tax refunds if it extends into February, The Washington Post reported Friday. Several senior administration officials told the Post that the White House did not anticipate the shutdown could last that long and only recently recognized its widespread impact. Approximately 25 percent of the government shut down on Dec. 22, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Agriculture (USDA), Treasury, Commerce, Justice, Interior and State. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have either been furloughed or forced to work without pay. President Trump said Friday the shutdown could last “months or even years.” The cutting off of funds to the USDA and Treasury Department could hamper their abilities to give food stamps to those in need or supply tax refunds. (The Hill) https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/423988-shutdown-may-jeopardize-tax-refunds-food-stamps-report
Hundreds of TSA screeners, working without pay, calling out sick at major airports (CNN) https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/04/politics/shutdown-tsa-screening/index.html
Homeland Security blasts CNN, says TSA ‘sick out’ report ‘grossly misrepresented’ situation at airports (FOX News) https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/homeland-security-official-labels-cnn-tsa-security-call-outs-as-fake-news
“Showing signs of compromise, the White House signaled on Sunday that talks to reopen the federal government could produce a deal in which President Donald Trump moves away from his demand that a proposed barrier along the southern border be a concrete wall.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shutdown/white-house-signals-some-compromise-in-ending-u-s-government-shutdown-idUSKCN1P00E5 “Trump, speaking to reporters outside the White House on Sunday, repeated his threat that if he is unhappy with negotiations in a few days, he could declare a national emergency and use the military to construct a wall, circumventing Congress. He also said he was willing to accept a steel barrier instead of a concrete wall. Trump is demanding that any funding to keep the federal government operational also include $5.6 billion to begin building a $23 billion a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump said on Sunday that he should not have to lower his demand for $5.6 billion in border security funding (IE: to fulfill his campaign promise of building a wall along the Mexico border).
“Pelosi Knows How to Play Chicken. Trump Doesn’t.” (Bloomberg opinion 1/16/19) https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-01-16/government-shutdown-pelosi-can-play-chicken-trump-can-t
Republican or Democrat there is definitely one thing that we can all agree on, and that is that times are hard right now. This government shut down is effecting people and if it continues things can get really bad.
Matthew 24:6,7 says mentions “there will be wars and reports of wars… and nation will rise against nation.. and there will be food shortages in one place after another”
This time was foretold in the Bible.