Judy Woodruff:

As we reported earlier, the partial government shutdown is now two weeks old, and its impact is growing.

Each night it lasts, we're going to share with you some of the many ways it is directly affecting people.

American farmers are starting to feel the hit at a crucial time of the year. That's because many of the offices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture around the country are closed, at the very time farmers ordinarily show up to apply for loans to pay some of last year's bills or to plan on loans for this year's plantings.

If the shutdown drags on, that's not the only big hit. The Trump administration pledged $12 billion in direct aid to soy, pork and dairy farmers to help deal with some of the losses they are suffering as a result of the trade war with China. But farmers must apply at USDA offices by mid-January.

And, again, those offices are closed. The USDA says that it will decide later whether to extend the deadline.

The partial shutdown is also temporarily stopping private companies from moving forward with an initial public offering, or IPO, this month. That's when a company starts selling its stock to other investors. However, companies must get guidance and advice from the federal Securities and Exchange Commission before going public.

With the SEC at minimal staff, those deals will have to wait, and companies may miss filing deadlines.

And that brings us to the analysis of Shields and Brooks. That's syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

Hello to both of you.

So, topic A, David, is what we were just talking about, the shutdown. The two — government remains — a big chunk of the government remains closed. The Democrats and the White House don't seem to agree. What are we — I mean, here we are. What are we now, two weeks into this. What are we learning about these — our leaders?