American lives turned upside down by record government shutdown

At 12 noon on January 12 (Vietnam time), the United States officially set a new record for the length of the government shutdown, entering its 22nd consecutive day, surpassing the 21 days under former US President Bill Clinton in late 1995 and early 1996. Currently, the controversy over the budget of more than 5 billion USD to build a border wall with Mexico - the main reason for the partial US government shutdown - has not yet come to an end.

Yesterday (January 11), the US House of Representatives passed a bill to fund and reopen the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and several other federal agencies affected by the partial government shutdown. However, the bill is also at risk of being rejected by the Senate and the White House.

This is part of a series of bills that House Democrats have pushed forward in the past week, aiming to put pressure on Republicans in Congress as well as the White House, as the government shutdown continues.

After the vote, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on US President Donald Trump to come up with a next plan to end the government shutdown, affirming: "When the President acts, Congress will respond."

However, this is not what President Trump wants the US Congress to do at the moment. Speaking at a White House event on border security, Mr. Trump yesterday affirmed that Congress should vote to approve the proposal to build a border wall and that he is in no hurry to declare a state of emergency.

“Congress should do it. If they can’t do it, then I will declare a national emergency because I have the absolute authority to do that. But this is something Congress could easily do and this is something the Democrats should do. We are seeing a country that is going to be taken over by criminals and drug dealers. We have to stop this. So I want the Democrats to come back and vote for my proposal,” Trump stressed.

The US leader also mentioned that he would consider major changes to the immigration reform process. However, such a move would only be made if his plan to build a wall on the border with Mexico receives funding.

Earlier, US media reported that the White House was preparing to declare a national emergency, allowing President Donald Trump to move forward with the project to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. The Washington Post and NBC News reported that the President would likely mobilize funding for the border wall from the US Army Corps of Engineers' operating fund, specifically $13.9 billion.

The longest US government shutdown in history has had a negative impact on the lives of Americans, especially workers and civil servants in departments without operating budgets.

Many Americans who are “salaried and paid” have had to sell their accumulated assets and find extra work to make ends meet. Many have resigned to find new jobs because they believe that their current jobs are low-paying and slow. Meanwhile, parks are always full of trash when there is no one to clean them. Most seriously, aviation security is threatened when employees in many departments report a record number of sick leave.

Additionally, 38 million people on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would also be severely affected if their monthly benefits were cut off if the US government shutdown continues.