US government shutdown enters longest period in history!

NO PAY CHEQUES: Government workers and their supporters hold signs during a protest in Boston.

• It overtook the 21-day stretch in 1995-1996, under president Bill Clinton.

The partial US government shutdown entered a record 22nd day on Saturday, as President Donald Trump remains steadfast in his demand for $5.7 billion to build a Mexico border wall and Democrats in Congress determined to refuse the funds.

The impasse has paralysed Washington, with the president retaliating by refusing to sign off on budgets for swathes of government departments unrelated to the dispute.

As a result 800,000 federal employees - workers as diverse as FBI agents, air traffic controllers and museum staff - did not receive pay cheques on Friday.The shutdown became the longest on record at midnight on Friday (0500 GMT Saturday), when it overtook the 21-day stretch in 1995-1996, under president Bill Clinton. Trump on Friday however backed off a series of previous threats to end the deadlock by declaring a national emergency and attempting to secure the funds without congressional approval.

"I'm not going to do it so fast," he said at a White House meeting. Until now, Trump had suggested numerous times that he was getting closer to taking the controversial decision.