Hamline professor says government shutdown will have major economic cost
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Christmas holiday means government offices across the country are closed for the day, but a partial shutdown means some parts of the government will not reopen tomorrow.
As the shutdown continues, President Donald Trump is sending a clear message to Democrats. On Tuesday, the president said part of the government will remain shut down and everyone should expect it to stay that way until the Democrats meet his demands along the southern border.
"I can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence whatever they'd like to call it,” Trump said to reporters in the oval office. “I'll call it whatever they want."
Sharing his take, Hamline University political science professor David Schultz said the longer the shutdown lasts, the bigger the economic cost.
“The longer the government is shut down the more this costs taxpayers,” he said. “We are actually out money for the process of shutting the government down, it being shut down, and starting it back up.”
The 2013 government shutdown cost the economy an estimated $24 billion, which is why Schultz projects the current shutdown will also bring an enormous economic cost.
“We’re easily going to also see an overall cost to the economy of at least $20-$25 billion,” he said.
As the president pushes for a $5 billion border wall, he claims many of the more than 800,000 federal workers affected want the wall.
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted earlier this month found 54 percent of American voters opposed building the wall, which came as no surprise to Schultz.
“As those federal workers are being furloughed and not being paid…I suspect any support that they had for that wall might be evaporating as their paychecks evaporate, too,” he said.
President Trump also said he plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border in January to start construction on the wall, which he said will stretch at least 500 miles. Beyond that, the president would not go into further details.