Neither Party Seems Interested in Ending This Shutdown

"They didn't even occur until the 1980s, and none lasted for more than three days until 1995. We're now in the sixth shutdown since the start of the Clinton administration. Today is the 23rd day since the government ran out of funding, still short of the 35-day record set during the first Trump presidency, and although there are sporadic signs of movement in Washington, this shutdown looks like it could go on for a very long time."

"A closed government seems to suit Donald Trump just fine, and he shows no concern for whether Congress authorizes him to do what he wants. The Republicans who control Congress take their cues from him, and Democrats see little incentive to reopen the government, which they argue would legitimize the president's actions. Typically, this is where I'd deploy a journalistic cliché and call it a "gridlock," but that implies that anyone is really trying to get free of it."

"Past shutdowns have been dominant news stories, but this one feels secondary at best. It is nowhere on the front page of The New York Times today, appears in a single sentence on page 1 of The Wall Street Journal, and is addressed tangentially in a story about Obamacare on A1 of The Washington Post. As the former Democratic-messaging maven Dan Pfeiffer notes, this trend mirrors reader interest more broadly."

Government shutdowns were rare until the 1980s and none lasted more than three days until 1995. The country is in the sixth shutdown since the start of the Clinton administration, and today marks the 23rd day without funding, short of the 35-day record set during the first Trump presidency. A closed government appears politically advantageous for Donald Trump; congressional Republicans follow his cues, while Democrats resist reopening to avoid legitimizing presidential demands. Media coverage and public attention have waned because of overlapping crises — Gaza, ICE raids, marches, maritime attacks, and disruptions at the White House — causing shutdowns to feel routine.

Read at The Atlantic