Maria Garcia has been a federal worker for 25 years and has lived through government shutdowns before.
She says this one has been by far the worst.
The 57-year-old is one of the 1.4 million US government employees going without pay.
While some still have to turn up to work, others like Maria are on forced unpaid leave.
She is among dozens who have queued outside a food bank in Maryland to get supplies to survive the week. It's her second time here.
"I'd never been to one, I never thought I would have to, but I'm here" she told the ABC.
"I had a meltdown last week because I didn't ask for this, I'm stuck at home because I can't go anywhere or do anything because everything costs money."
Maria says she has had to dip into her savings to pay her mortgage and the bills.
"It's upsetting, it's sad that we have to be in this situation with this administration," she said.
"People say, 'you voted for this' — I didn't vote for this."
Single mother Amy Flanery has also lined up for food supplies and says so far, she has managed to defer most of her payments during the shutdown.
"If we don't get paid again soon, those are going to run out and I don't know how willing people are to keep deferring them because we're still accumulating interest in the process," she said.
"I have a kid in school, senior year, so there are lots of expenses that come with it and I'm having to delay all the expenses because I just can't do it right now."
'We didn't ask for this'
This government shutdown has surpassed the previous record of 35 days in 2018-2019 during Donald Trump's first term as president.
US senators have held a rare weekend session to try to negotiate deals that could temporarily reopen the government, and some reports say there could be a vote as soon as today (Sunday evening local time).
In January 2019, Mr Trump signed into law legislation that provided retroactive pay for impacted federal employees.
But this time, the Trump administration has suggested only those who were forced to work during the shutdown will receive back pay.
"That's not very fair because we didn't ask for this … I think that's the hard part, we did not ask for this," Maria said.
"It pisses me off that this administration doesn't care how we feel, just normal people, working day to day, trying to make it."
It is estimated the shutdown will cost the US economy $US14 billion ($AU21.5 billion).
National parks are closed, federal research has come to a halt and funding for programs is running dry.
Forty-two million Americans rely on federal food aid benefits called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. Those payments remain in limbo.
The Trump administration has ordered a reduction in flights across the country to try and address the long delays at airports caused by the shutdown.
"Countless public servants are now not getting paid and the air traffic control system is under increasing strain," President Trump said last week.
A fiscal stalemate
Democrats have refused to support the Republicans' budget legislation because they want expiring healthcare subsidies, which reduce health insurance costs for millions of Americans, put back in the budget.
Republicans require 60 out of 100 votes for their funding bills to pass the Senate. There are currently 53 Republican senators, meaning they need bipartisan support to reopen the government.
But so far neither side has been willing to budge. Republicans have said they will negotiate on healthcare after the government reopens while Democrats have said they can not trust them to follow through.
Opinion polls have increasingly shown Republicans are shouldering more of the shutdown blame than the Democrats.
"The Republicans are in charge, the Republicans control the presidency, the House, the Senate and I think there's this feeling that if you're in charge, you [have] got to solve this problem," Dartmouth Professor of Government Dean Lacy said.
"There's a point at which pain will exceed partisanship, and Republicans will start to call their members of Congress and say, 'Fix this now.'"
While federal employees go without their pay cheques, the politicians have continued to be paid.
"They're taking it lighter than they should, because they're not the ones on the streets going through this … they're not the ones that are actually running out of money," Amy said.
"I feel like they should not get their pay cheques in the process too."
Ballroom and bad optics
Amid the gridlock in Congress, the president has shared some of his recent White House renovations on social media.
Mr Trump posted seven times on Truth Social, unveiling photos of the remodelled bathroom in the Lincoln Bedroom.
The east wing of the White House has been demolished and is being transformed into a $US300 million ballroom.
On Halloween, the president hosted a Great Gatsby-themed party.
Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, Heather Evans, said the renovations and event hosting had not been well received by the American public and were "tone deaf".
"It may have been well received by top-dollar donors of the Republican party, but I don't see that as being well received by run-of-the-mill everyday Republican voters," she said.
"It's not good and I think that's what's leading individuals to also stop supporting Trump."
An Economist-YouGov poll last month found 58 per cent of Americans strongly or somewhat disapproved of Mr Trump's handling of the presidency, while 39 per cent approved.
It was the lowest net approval he had received in his second term of office in any Economist-YouGov poll.
Professor Lacy said while showcasing White House renovations during a shutdown was not good, the president had a history of getting through bad optics.
"Things like that don't seem to affect Donald Trump as much as they might have other presidents, I think he's aware of that," he said.
Billionaire donation raises eyebrows
Donald Trump has said he wants to "immediately" reopen the government but has been unwilling for his party to negotiate healthcare with the Democrats.
He has found workarounds to keep certain parts of the government paid, particularly the military.
The administration has managed to pay the country's 1.32 million service members by using funding set aside for military research.
It then accepted a $US130 million private donation to help fund pay cheques for the troops.
US media reported that donation was from Timothy Mellon, a reclusive banking billionaire and major donor to the president.
But experts have said the longer this shutdown goes on, the greater the impact it has on everyday Americans, including those serving their country.
"These people who are relying on healthcare, relying on these SNAP benefits, relying on other benefits, they're across all the parties," Professor Evans said.
"They're just Americans that vote left and right and they need help."
The large donation from an American billionaire has raised further ethical questions, too.
Professor Lacy said he believed it eroded democracy.
"It creates a government that's not funded by the people but by special interests that are selecting what they want to fund," he said.
"It looks like government is being turned over to private hands at times.
"We're in a lot of uncharted territory now about what's legal and what's not; what's constitutional and what's not.
"So we're learning a lot about how vague parts of American government are and there are grey areas that are now being exploited."
