January 25, 2019

Trump Caves, Agrees to Short-Term Spending Bill to End Longest Shutdown in US History

The deal comes as a significant victory for Nancy Pelosi.

Michael Candelori/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

President Donald Trump on Friday announced that he has agreed to a short-term spending bill that would temporarily reopen the government and end the longest government shutdown in US history.

The announcement, which will fund the government until February 15, marks a badly needed breakthrough over Trump’s demands for $5.7 billion to build a border wall—an unprecedented impasse that left more than 800,000 federal workers furloughed or working without pay for 35 days. It marks a major victory for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has stood firm in her refusal to appropriate funding for the president’s wall demands.

The deal caps off an abysmal week for the White House, as recent polls showed Americans were increasingly blaming Trump for the shutdown. Adding fuel to the mounting frustration, several remarks made by high-level administration officials this week—including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ self-professed inability to “understand” why some federal workers were visiting food banks amid the shutdown—were roundly condemned as evidence that the president and his aides were oblivious to the financial struggles rendered by the shutdown.

The timing of the announcement on Friday also came on the same day that marked the second missed pay period for federal workers, and just hours after the Federal Aviation Administration announced a ground stoppage at one of the nation’s busiest airports due to significant staff shortages amid the shutdown.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate