In the five weeks that the government was shut down, the United States economy lost at least $6 billion, which is over the $5.7 billion that President Donald Trump estimated it would take to build the wall at the border.

Late last week President Trump agreed to reopen the government for three weeks while congress continues to negotiate the long-promised border wall. The concession by President Trump allowed both the Senate and House to pass a stopgap spending bill which was signed by Trump Friday night.

The deal opened the gates to paying the 800,000 federal employees who have been working for 35 days without pay.

However, the plan does not include money for the border wall that Trump demanded and indicated that this might be a temporary fix.  He said that if Republicans and Democrats cannot agree on wall money by the February deadline then he will declare a national emergency to bypass congress all together.

“We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier,” said Trump. “If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shutdown on Feb. 15, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and Constitution of the United States to address this emergency.”

President Trump did concede that there is not a need for 2,000 miles of concrete wall however, instead he invoked the idea of “smart walls” that replace physical barriers with drones and other types of sensors.

Across the country, different government services were feeling the impact of unpaid workers, as several IRS employees did not show up for work, air traffic controllers called in sick and the F.B.I director expressed his displeasure over his agents not being paid.

“None of us are willing to go through this again,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, referring to several Republicans who voted last Thursday for a Democratic measure to reopen the government. “And it’s not just the few of us. There are a great many in our conference that feel pretty strongly.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated that any compromise would not include money for a border wall, which Democrats view as costly and ineffective, even though they have supported border fencing in the past.

“Have I not been clear on a wall?,” said Pelosi at a news conference with Senator Chuck Schumer.

On Twitter last Friday, President Trump did not acknowledge that he was surrendering and offered no explanation for it.

“This is in no way a concession,” Trump tweeted. “It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races!”

President Trump has also accepted Pelosi’s invitation to address the State of the Union on Feb. 5.