On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill ending a record 43-day shutdown. The legislation came after weeks of political gridlock that ended when a small group of Senate Democrats reached a compromise with Republicans.

MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks with two political scientists about what the deal to end the shutdown tells us about power, priorities and politics in Washington.

Guests:

• Larry Jacobs is a political scientist and founder and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. He is also the author of “Democracy Under Fire: Donald Trump and the Breaking of American History.”
• Cindy Rugeley is an associate professor of political science and head of the Political Science Program at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

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Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.