The only way to fix it is to end it

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U.S. President Donald Trump announces a deal to end the partial government shutdown as he speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 25, 2019. Photo credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

On the 35th day, President Trump announced the end of the partial government shutdown...for now. As part of the agreement, President Trump hasn’t gotten his wall funding — a major win for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — but a bipartisan congressional committee is tasked with working on a plan for border security for the next three weeks. Trump threatened that if he doesn’t get a “fair deal,” he may shut down the government again or declare a national emergency. 

Meanwhile, longtime Trump ally Roger Stone was arrested Friday morning in a pre-dawn FBI raid of his Florida home. He’s accused of obstruction of justice, lying to Congress, and witness intimidation. Stone is the sixth of Trump’s associates to be indicted in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation. Stone was released on a $250,000 bond and claims he will plead not guilty to the charges. Stone also added that he has no intention of testifying against President Trump.

But back to the shutdown: even once furloughed government employees return to work and federal workers receive their back pay, repercussions from the long shutdown may continue to rattle vital industries. Air traffic controller and Vice President of the National Air Traffic Controller Association’s Western Pacific Union Joel Ortiz explains he’s concerned fewer people will seek jobs in industries, like airspace control, that the shutdown has made look “unstable.”

Sam Berger, a domestic policy adviser and Office of Management and Budget staffer during the Obama Administration, joins the panel to explain how the government tries to maintain some semblance of stability during a shutdown.

California Senator Kamala Harris announced she’ll be running for president in 2020. Her policy platform is ambitious and includes a very large tax credit for middle-income families. Elizabeth Warren, who’s also running, has proposed America’s first wealth tax on citizens with over $50 million in assets. How popular might these policies be?

In international news, the United States has backed a new president of Venezuela — and it’s not Nicolas Maduro. Latin American editor for the Wall Street Journal David Luhnow joins the panel for an update.

Credits

Guests:

  • Sam Berger - Senior adviser at the Center for American Progress - @samberger_DC
  • Joel Ortiz - Air traffic controller in Southern California and regional vice president of the National Air Traffic Controller Association's Western Pacific Union
  • David Luhnow - Wall Street Journal