From December 22 through January 25, the nation’s capital was a shell of its former self with monuments and museums closed to the public, trash cans overflowing, and more than 70,000 DC-based federal workers — including many ERHS parents and student interns — prohibited from making their daily commute.

Congress, which the Constitution tasks with creating a federal budget, created a bipartisan spending bill that the president rejected because it did not include funding for a border wall, according to The Washington Post.  

Senior Sarah Silski’s father works for the State Department. She explained that he has been asked to come into work, but he said no. She expressed concern for the future.

“We have enough in savings but it could become a problem because I have a large family.”

She continued by saying she knew the school was conducting a lunch program, but she didn’t feel it was enough for struggling families, “I think [the school] might offer more counseling for students because it’s not just financial support, it’s also a mental and emotional.”

Junior Nicole Miko is the daughter of two NASA employees affected by the shutdown. She explained that “it’s really nice that they’re doing that food drive thing” but she “only got that one email” and they may have mentioned it on the morning announcements.

Miko explained that “they’re more worried about others who don’t have the things we do,” and the state of critical NASA projects.

“My mom develops detectors that detect infrared radiation in space and my dad is an electrical engineer…he recently had one of his projects [sent] to the ISS…we’re just worried that maybe some of the projects they’re working on will be cut out of the budget.”

Junior Madison Endres’ father works for the Department of Justice and did not work during the shutdown. She said her family had to cut back on expenses including groceries, shopping, and unnecessary purchases since he wasn’t receiving a paycheck.

“People should all get their stuff together and come up with a solution so [government] employees can fully support their families… Trump sucks” she said.

After rejecting the spending bill, President Trump demanded $5.7 billion to be allotted for the wall to increase border security between the United States and Mexico.

Members of the Democratic party, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, said they were unwilling to compromise with the president on any bill that included funding for the wall.

Nationally, the shutdown affected more than 800,000 employees working for organizations and departments including NASA, the Forest and National Park Services, the IRS, the Department of Justice, the State Department, and more.

On January 25, 2019, President Trump conceded, and the shutdown ended, sending workers back on Monday, January 28. The current agreement will expire on February 15.