The government shut down early Saturday morning after Senate Democrats and Republicans were unable to reach an agreement about the spending bill by Friday’s midnight deadline.
The shutdown comes at the one-year mark of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. This is the first government shutdown since 2013 and only the fourth in the past 25 years.
For undergraduate students, there will likely be little impact, University of Wisconsin political science professor, Barry Burden, said.
“For example, student financial aid decision have already been made for the year,” Burden said.
The impacts on the shutdown will be felt more among faculty and student researchers that rely on federal research funding, Burden said. New research proposals are not likely to be accepted by funding agencies.
A statement released by UW officials corroborated this sentiment, as they said it “likely” that most federal-sponsored university research will halt the process for reviewing submissions and making new awards.
The Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor this situation and provide updates as available.
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Burden is uncertain about how long the shutdown will last because it depends on the bargaining process of lawmakers, but he predicts they will come to a solution before the State of the Union address that will take place January 30.
College Republicans chair, Jake Lubenow, echoed similar thoughts of effects on students as Burden regarding federal research. While students may not be directly affected, there are larger implications regarding government responsibility.
“The shutdown is an unfortunate byproduct of the Democrats once again caring more about illegal immigrants than our own country,” Lubenow said.
Lubenow refers to the heated debate between reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program — which provides health care coverage for low-income families — and ensuring continuation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which gives undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. deferred acton from deportation and the ability to work and study.
Nearly 9 million American children and 800,000 DACA beneficiaries currently stand to be affected.
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UW College Republicans believe there are alternative solutions to DACA than mass deportation, Lubenow said. But, holding the government “hostage” is “reckless” of the Democrats, he added.
On the other hand, UW College Democrats chair, Brianna Koerth, released a statement that put the blame of the shutdown in the hands of Trump and the Republicans.
“Our organization is disappointed to see that the Republican-controlled House, Senate and White House have resulted in the current shutdown rather than choosing to protect DREAMers and CHIP recipients,” Koerth said.
While both groups place the blame of the shutdown on the opposing party, they both also realize lawmakers need to compromise and work together to keep the government functioning.
College Republicans continue to hope Republican leadership in Washington D.C. are able to find a solution for DACA that involves a comprehensive immigration reform.
“[College Democrats] hope that our legislators and our President will embrace unity and cooperation,” Koerth said.
