Your Government Has Been Shutdown For:

Day 718: Prime-time.

01/07/2019 Updated: 01/07/2019 02:50:03 PM PST

1/ The White House will order the IRS to pay out income tax refunds even though almost 90 percent of its workforce is not working due to the ongoing government shutdown. Some 12.5 percent of IRS employees are still working through the shutdown because their jobs are classified as serving "in the protection of life and property," but the agency's own shutdown contingency plan only extended until Dec. 31 and has since expired. Some IRS employees are still working to implement the sweeping Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, adding to the bureaucratic backlog as the partial government shutdown dragged into day 17. (ABC News / New York Times)

• Senate Democrats are considering blocking all future legislation in order to maintain focus on the government shutdown. Chuck Schumer notified the Democratic caucus that he will only focus on bills that would reopen the government. (CNN)

2/ The Department of Agriculture won't say how long it will continue to pay out food stamps during the shutdown to the nearly 39 million people who depend on the service each month. The program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, could run out of funding in the coming weeks if Congress doesn't take action. Senior officials say the program has enough funding to cover the rest of January, but not enough for February. Congress has never let SNAP funding run out to the point where the program has defaulted on its obligations to provide benefits. (Politico / Washington Post)

3/ Trump's latest offer to end the shutdown includes a demand for $5.7 billion in funding "for construction of a steel barrier for the Southwest border," plus another $800 million to deal with "urgent humanitarian needs" related to unaccompanied minors arriving at the border. Democrats and Republicans made no progress in the negotiations over the weekend and the budget impasse shows no signs of coming to an end any time soon. The White House, meanwhile, refused to go into detail about how the requested funding would be spent or why the amount is larger than what the administration was asking for just a few months ago. (Washington Post)

• Jimmy Carter became the latest former president to deny telling Trump that he regrets not building a wall along the southern U.S. border. "I have not discussed the border wall with President Trump, and do not support him on the issue," Carter said. (The Hill)

4/ Trump wants to deliver a prime-time address tomorrow night to discuss the government shutdown and what he calls "the Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border." All the major networks — ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC— confirmed that they received requests to air the broadcast during the 9 p.m. ET slot, but producers have not decided whether or not they will do so. (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News)

5/ The president of the World Bank resigned and will leave his post at the end of the month, three years before his term was set to end. Jim Yong Kim was appointed in 2012 by President Obama. Kim's early departure means Trump will be able to appoint his successor. The World Bank is made up of 189 nations and is the largest government source of development funding in the world. Kim gave no reason for his sudden resignation. The CEO of the World Bank, Kristalina Georgieva, will take over on an interim basis until Trump appoints a new president. (NBC News)

Notables.

1. Ruth Bader Ginsburg missed oral arguments at the Supreme Court for the first time in more than 25 years as she recovers from cancer surgery she had last month. It is not clear when she will return to the court, but a court spokesperson said Ginsburg, 85, is continuing to work from home as she recuperates after doctors removed two cancerous growths from her lungs on Dec. 21. (Associated Press)
2. Former GOP Sen. Jon Kyl became the second person to turn down Trump's offer to replace Jim Mattis as Secretary of Defense. Ret. Gen. Jack Keane also turned Trump down shortly after Mattis resigned late last month. (Politico)
3. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to several Middle Eastern nations to reassure America's allies in the midst of a flurry of contradictions and confusion regarding Trump's plan to pull U.S. forces out of Syria and Afghanistan. (ABC News)

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