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Lotos’ 149th Year
women to Washington. Still, a Republican major- ity in the Senate kept legislation stalled. Gridlock in Washington came to a head with the lon- gest-ever government shutdown, brought about by the president’s insistence on funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Finally, after thirty- ve days, the government reopened, but without a resolution to the immigration crisis. As the year wore on, and as families were separated at the border and children were reportedly held in cages, the Congressional impasse on immigra- tion continued.
When Special Counsel Robert Mueller deliv- ered his long-awaited report to William Barr in March, the attorney general rushed out a sum- mary, which the President hailed as his exon- eration from charges of obstruction of justice and collusion with Russians interfering in the 2016 elections. Democrats, however, insisted that the report o ered no such vindication, and pressed Mueller to clarify his ndings. As the year ended, the possibility of impeachment was looming.
Although the press reported a decline in terror- ist activities, mass shootings continued. In late October, a gunman opened re in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing twelve and injuring six. In March, forty-nine were killed and many more injured in Christchurch, New Zealand mosques by a self-proclaimed white supremacist. Just a few weeks later, the New Zealand Parliament voted almost unanimously to ban military-style
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