Just for fun - forget what SHOULD happen. Let's guess what WILL happen.

My guess is that this shutdown lasts for months. Here's why:

1) There's too few centrists any more who will cross party lines to get things done, so the party leaders must agree on a compromise.

2) I don't see a "3rd way" compromise on the Wall. It's either funded or it's not.

3) Both parties have boxed themselves into a corner with their base. How do Democrats tell their voters that they voted for funding for "state-sanctioned racism"? How does Trump tell his voters in 2020 that with Republicans in control of the entire government for his first 2 years he still couldn't Build That Wall?

4) Trump (and his supporters, and the Libertarian wing of the Republican party) thinks most of the furloughed workers should be laid off anyways. So extending the shutdown is a win-win for him.

5) Democrats want the government to open up, but they're betting that voters will blame Republicans for the shutdown (as they always have in the past).


My guess is that they eventually make a trade - construct the wall in exchange for one of the Democrats' priorities (perhaps the Dreamers?). But it will take months for us to get there.