United States federal government shutdown of 2018 facts for kids

A shutdown of the United States federal government began at midnight EST on Saturday, January 20, 2018, after a failure to pass a legislation funding bill for government operations and agencies and ended on Monday, January 22, 2018.

The shutdown was caused from disputes over the status of protection of persons affected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy, and therefore whether those covered under the program should face deportation. There was also a dispute over whether funding should be funded towards building a Mexico–United States border wall, a keystone policy during Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

This is the first shutdown in United States history to occur while both chambers of Congress as well as the White House are controlled by the same party (in this case, the Republican party). The 2018 shutdown began when the Senate failed to approve a House-passed bill to keep the government open. The shutdown began on the first anniversary of Donald Trump taking office.

Images for kids

• 

  Units of the National Park System closed during the 2013 federal government shutdown. Shown here is the National Mall.