Trump's Shutdown Paused, Investigation Not

The government shutdown that lasted 35 days, victimized at least 800,000 federal workers and cost $11 billion (according to a supposedly non-partisan budgetary agency) with three billion of it never coming back, is currently on hold.

Thanks to the deal made between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the shutdown has been lifted for three weeks until February 15.  Congress has until then to work out a new plan to fund security at the United States-Mexico border, with or without the wall Trump still covets.

No doubt the announcement was intended to deflect from news of the arrest on January 25 of former Trump political adviser Roger Stone, as part of the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into alleged Russian influence of the 2016 presidential election.  Stone has pled not guilty on seven counts against him, ranging from witness tampering to obstruction of justice.

Meanwhile, Trump's prison-bound former attorney Michael Cohen is finally going to tell his side of the story to separate congressional intelligence committees about why he lied to them in testifying of his involvement in the Russian affair.  It won't be as public as Cohen once wanted, having revealed that threats have been made against his family if he testified, and that certain questions relating to the Mueller investigation are off limits.

Most folks thought Trump caved in to Pelosi in agreeing to open the government without his wall.  Not so fast.  Congress has a knack for deciding not to decide, despite the Democrats' promises of a more activist government.  So it seems likely that they'll try to drag things out before the deadline, if at all.  Trump will likely get his wall no matter what, because he is going to declare a phony national emergency for the purpose of freeing up funds and ordering military personnel to build it.

Oh, and the State of the Union address has been rescheduled for February 5.  Plan your schedule accordingly.

For those who had been affected by the government shutdown, they should be using this break in the action to pay their bills and reassess their future.  Because now that your job has become subject to the political whims of the day, it might be a good time to update your resumes.