The impact of the longest US government shutdown is widening, with most of the 800,000 employees who have been furloughed or are working without pay expected to miss their second paychecks on Friday.
The shutdown reached its 34th day on Thursday, as Republican President Donald Trump and Democrats in Congress remain divided over Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion in partial funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border.
Congressman James Clyburn, the third ranking Democrat in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday suggested ending the partial government shutdown by giving Trump money he seeks but earmarking it for other security tools such as drones, X-rays and sensors, as well as more border patrol agents.
The government closure, which began on December 22, is the 19th since the mid-1970s, although most have been brief. The current one has affected a quarter of federal agencies, including the Departments of Interior, Commerce, Homeland…