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It's Sunday, December 30th. I'm Margaret Brennan and this is Face the nation. The government shutdown drags on as the new year approaches

and Democrats prepare to assume control of the House of Representatives.

Washington was at a standstill last week with the Senate in session for all of four minutes on Thursday.

Actually, two and a half if you don't count the prayer. The Senate

stands adjourned. President Trump called off his holiday travel and instead

made his first trip to a war zone visiting

troops in Iraq.

America shouldn't be doing the fighting for every nation on earth.

Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats remain at odds over funding a border wall,

and President Trump is raising the stakes,

threatening to shut down the entire southern border. the Listen, it's the only way we can get the Democrats attention.

Washington's dysfunction is rocking Wall Street.

Blue Chip stocks are on track for their worst December since the Great Depression.

We'll talk with Alabama Republican Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of the powerful Appropriations

Committee.

His fellow committee member, Montana Senator John Tester, also joins us to discuss Democrats demands. And in these turbulent times, we

turn to a face the nation tradition. A historian's roundtable reflecting on the year

gone by and what lies ahead for 2019. It's all ahead

...