In 2019 the president shut down the federal government when he couldn’t reach a deal with Democrats on funding his border wall. “If we don’t get what we want, one way or the other,” he promised congressional leaders, “whether it’s through you or through the military or whatever you want to call it, I will shut down the government.”48 This cost $3 billion, according to a partial accounting by the Congressional Budget Office.49 Other costs not counted in the tally included disruption to private enterprise which relies on government business and permits. Roughly one million government contractors
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