The longest government shutdown in our history has come to an end and, according to Standards and Poor's Global Ratings, economic activity dropped by at least $6 billion while the federal government was frozen.
From Reuters:
(Reuters) - The U.S. economy lost at least $6 billion during the partial shutdown of the federal government due to lost productivity from furloughed workers and economic activity lost to outside business, S&P Global Ratings said on Friday. [...]
“Although this shutdown has ended, little agreement on Capitol Hill will likely weigh on business confidence and financial market sentiments,” S&P said in a news release.
As you know, Trump demanded at least $5.7 billion for his fantasy border wall and he now has nothing to show for it.
We're more or less in the same position today as we would have been had former Speaker Paul Ryan simply allowed a vote on a continuing resolution to keep the government running before the new year. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a funding bill to keep the government running by a simple voice vote, but Ryan refused to hold a vote because Trump said he wouldn't sign it. It was Ryan's last act in Congress.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell assumed the role of Paul Ryan in recent weeks by refusing to hold a vote any funding bills unless they included money for Trump's wall.
The fact that the Senate passed a funding bill immediately after Trump waved a white flag demonstrates that McConnell could have held a vote and easily passed a funding bill at any time. He didn't need Trump's permission.
A separate report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the economy lost at least $11 billion in economic activity.
The 35-day government shutdown wiped out $11 billion in economic activity, most of which will be recouped, but the episode will noticeably reduce economic growth in the first quarter, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday.
The shutdown reduced the nation’s gross domestic product by $3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018 and $8 billion in the current quarter, CBO estimates. As a result, inflation-adjusted GDP growth will be an annualized 0.2 percentage points lower in the fourth quarter and 0.4 percentage points lower in the first quarter, CBO said.