<span style="color: #222222;">The partial shutdown of the US government has become the longest on record, with still no end in sight to the political standoff. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Today, it reaches its 22nd day, overtaking the previous record – the 21-day shutdown in 1995-96 under then-President Bill Clinton.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">President Donald Trump is refusing to approve a budget unless it includes funds for a wall on the Mexican border. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Democrats have rejected his request for $5.7bn. About a quarter of the federal government is still out of operation until a spending plan is agreed, leaving 800,000 employees unpaid. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Yesterday, those workers – including prison guards, airport staff and FBI agents – missed their first salaries of the year.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Meanwhile, President Trump has calmed speculation that he is about to declare a national emergency in order to bypass Congress and get the money he needs. His proposed border wall was a key election pledge. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He described an emergency declaration as an "easy way out" and said he would prefer Congress to resolve the problem. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">But he added if they can't do it he will declare a national emergency and he has the absolute right.</span>