Politics roundup: Government shutdown continues without clear end in sight

It’s been a week now since the federal government went into a shutdown over border wall funding. What’s likely to happen in the days to come?

Government shutdown continues

Though Congress met late Thursday to resume negotiations over federal budgets, they did not immediately resolve the ongoing government shutdown, now in its seventh day. Many, though not all, federal employees are either furloughed or working without pay. Though some of these workers will receive back pay once the shutdown ends, the holiday timing of this shutdown is especially unfortunate.

Even without considerations of gifts, family get-togethers, and expensive holiday travel, federal workers have said that they are stressed thanks to soon-to-be-sparse paychecks. Some contractors will get no pay at all, even after the end of the shutdown. Members of Congress, meanwhile, are continuing to receive their salaries. Their right to get paid, regardless of federal gridlock, is enshrined in Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution.

It’s still unclear how long this will continue. The President has warned of a “very long” shutdown, saying that he will continue to veto bills that don’t include $5 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Originally, he claimed that Mexico would pay for the materials and construction. That is never going to happen. Now, the cost of the wall is set to come from United States coffers.

In the upcoming 116th Congress, Democrats will control the House. In general, Democratic politicians are deeply opposed to any bill that provides for border wall funding, as it’s seen as a capitulation to the President on a highly divisive issue.

In the Senate, any bill will need a minimum 60-vote majority to pass. When the 116th Congress takes over on January 3, Republican Senators will bump up their majority from 51 seats to 53. Still, that 60 vote requirement means they will have considerable work convincing Democratic Senators to join in their cause. If any Republicans push back against the next bill, that would likely serve only as fuel to the already growing fire.

Speculation is running rampant over the next potential bill. What could please both a divided Congress and a contentious President? It might include a compromise of only $2 billion for the wall, or it could include no money at all for the project. If it makes it through Congress and to the Oval Office, the President will have to make a decision. Does he back off on one of his signature campaign promises, or does he single-handedly continue an unpopular government shutdown?

Border turmoil continues

The deaths of Felipe Alonzo-Gomez, 8, and Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7, in this month has caused considerable turmoil and internal review within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agencies. The two children, both minor immigrants who entered the country illegally with adult guardians, died in U.S. custody.

Many point to what they deem inadequate medical reviews that allow sick or injured migrants to pass without notice. The border crossing, which can include travel across rural desert regions with little water or other vital resources, can take many lives before migrants are apprehended by U.S. officials.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen has said that the blame really lies with migrants. They have, according to Nielsen, “pushed [the U.S. immigration system] to a breaking point”.

“Smugglers, traffickers, and their own parents put these minors at risk by embarking on the dangerous and arduous journey north,” she continued. Nielsen also said that migrants may be arriving with pre-existing respiratory illnesses or other diseases.

According to Nielsen and other customs officials, the deaths of Alonzo-Gomez and Maquin are the first child deaths to occur in U.S. custody in over a decade. In 2018, six adults died in U.S. border custody. Authorities report that 24,000 minors arrived at the border in December 2018 alone.

Border officials argue that they are working with dwindling resources, dramatically increased numbers of migrants, and a growing need for more intensive medical training. Many migrants, including the parents of Maquin and Alonzo-Gomez, say that they are fleeing intense poverty and violence in their homes.

RBG is out of the hospital

After surgery for early-stage lung cancer, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been released from the hospital. Ginsburg, 85, has previously battled pancreatic and colorectal cancer.

According to her doctors, there is no indication that any cancer cells remain in her body. Ginsburg fell in November, fracturing three ribs. During scans to assess those injuries, doctors discovered suspicious growth on her lungs that eventually led to this surgery.

Supreme Court Justices are appointed to their seats for a lifetime term. As a result, matters that might be inconsequential or at least kept private are instead subject to great scrutiny. In this case, developments can also generate intense anxiety.

Ginsburg, one of the Court’s minority of liberal judges, has served there since 1993. She’s also the oldest Justice currently on the bench. If she were to retire or pass away before 2020, the President would almost certainly replace her with a more conservative Justice. While many joked on Twitter about donating blood or healthy body parts to Ginsburg, the humor is carried along by real fears.

If Ginsburg were replaced, the effects of such a change could last for decades beyond a president’s term. Ahead of the 2016 election, Ginsburg said that she couldn’t imagine a Trump presidency, much less a Supreme Court packed with his nominees. “For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be — I don’t even want to contemplate that.”

In some courts, this is a chance to call for term limits on the Supreme Court. It may seem attractive, given the long-term consequences of appointments from liberal darlings like Ginsburg to highly controversial conservatives like Brett Kavanaugh.

Are term limits like this going to happen? Lifetime appointments to the Court are a deeply entrenched tradition. It’s also a practice that’s meant to limit partisan fighting and political uncertainty, believe it or not. Undoing these very long-term terms could get seriously complicated, so don’t hold your breath.

And, finally, your palate cleanser

Today, Mileva Marić is largely forgotten, unless you’ve spent more time than is usual digging into the history of physics. It’s a shame, really, because Marić was a considerable physicist in her own right, despite the handicap of being a scientifically-minded woman in the 19th and early 20th centuries. She is all too often overshadowed by her husband, who you definitely know: Albert Einstein.

Marić, who was born in Serbia in 1875, may not have received much support from society, but she was helped along by her own family. Her father obtained special permission from Serbia’s Minister of Education so that his high school-aged daughter could attend science lectures, which were traditionally closed to women.

She eventually attended the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland. There, she met Einstein and the pair grew close. As their relationship developed, letters between the pair indicated that Marić had considerable influence over the course of Albert’s studies.

In 1900, he wrote to her: “You must now continue with your research – how proud I will be to have a doctor for my spouse when I’ll only be an ordinary man.”

Evidence indicates that, far from being a supportive spouse only, Mileva was likely an important contributor to Albert’s work. Both wrote of articles as shared creations, though they were published under Albert’s name only.

They eventually married in 1903 and had two sons, as well as a daughter who was born out of wedlock and disappeared into history. The couple separated in 1914 after Albert began an affair with his cousin, Elsa Löwenthal.

The whole course of these events are more complicated than can be fully explained here, but it’s fair to say that Mileva Marić deserves greater attention for her intellect and original scientific work.