The latest government shutdown has carried into the new year, with a bipartisan agreement seeming simultaneously closer to realization and increasingly further away.

The shutdown began on Dec. 22, when, according to CBS News (and a small army of other sources), President Donald Trump found difficulty receiving financial support for his campaign-promised southern border wall from the democratic members of Congress. With the midterm elections bringing in a small wave of democrats, including more women and minorities than at any point in history, Trump now has to negotiate with a variety of other perspectives… a prospect which may prove difficult.

“This is a very important battle to win, in terms of safety, number one, defining our country, and who we are,” Trump said, according to NPR.

But time is limited; many government services have been cancelled during the government shutdown, and leaving them closed for too long could have long-term consequences. For example, food stamps would face cuts if the shutdown goes into the next month, affecting almost 38 million Americans. Income for government workers is cut until the shutdown is over, leading some to protest, both on Twitter’s “#Shutdown Stories” and in some local government’s pleas for the shutdown’s conclusion.

“Hardworking federal employees and those who depend on them should not have to suffer because of this partisan standoff,” chief executives from Washington, DC., Maryland and Virginia issued in a joint statement. One of the those involved was Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, an ardent Republican.

There are ways in which the shutdown can be halted in time. One possible solution involves Trump giving funding to the Dreamers program, a move which will give immigrant children illegally in the United States a chance at education. But talks are still in process, and with Trump considering the possibility of calling a national emergency, it may be a long time before either side makes concessions.