The United States Federal Government is now in its longest partial shutdown in history. The shutdown began because President Trump demanded 5.7 billion dollars for the border wall between the United States and Mexico on December 22nd in order to fund the government. There is no real end in sight.

The parts of the government that are shut down include Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation, and Treasury. Essential employees within those fields may still be required to work without pay during this period.

According to a Washington Post-ABC poll, 53% of Americans blame President Trump for the shutdown, 29% blame Democrats, 13% blame both, and the rest have no opinion. In the same survey, 54% of Americans oppose the wall and 43% support it. Among supporters of the President, 52% say he should keep demanding the funds despite it prolonging the shutdown, and 41% suggest a compromise.

While President Trump has suggested that he might invoke a national emergency and use disaster funds from hurricanes in Texas and Puerto Rico to pay for sections of the wall, he stated that he is not looking to call a national emergency right now. 67% of Americans oppose the national emergency option.

Currently, around 800,000 government employees are without pay, and 350,000 of those are furloughed. An increasing number of them are filing for unemployment benefits, while many are unlikely to recoup their missing checks. Native Americans have missed out on millions of dollars for funding of basic services and farmers are struggling with loan and payment issues. Congress recently approved a motion that all checks will be paid back after the government reopens.

According to the New York Times, it is estimated that each week the shutdown continues will shave about 0.04% to 0.07% off the GDP for 2019. Within two weeks, the cost of the shutdown is estimated to cost more than the wall would.

Utah has been affected less than other states as the state allocated 80,000 dollars to national parks funding from the st. The funding is limited and will not last too long, so as with many other agencies, only the absolutely essential aspects are open.

There is a concern in Utah that there will be a repeat of the 2013 government shutdown where the Federal Government did not reimburse the 1 million dollars spent to keep national parks open.