White House tries to hold jittery GOP in line on wall

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was heading to Capitol Hill Wednesday as the White House tried to hold jittery congressional Republicans in line on the 19th day of the partial government shutdown. He said he thought “we’re getting closer to a deal” but there was little other evidence of an end to the impasse over his demand for billions for a wall at the U.S.Mexico border.

Trump insisted at the White House he “didn’t want this fight.” But it was his sudden rejection of a bipartisan spending bill late last month that blindsided leaders in Congress.

Ahead of his visit to Capitol Hill and another round of talks later Wednesday at the White House, Trump made his cautiously optimistic comment about a possible deal. But he also renewed his notice that he might declare a national emergency and try to authorize the wall on his own if Congress won’t approve the $5.7 billion he’s asking.

“I think we might work a deal, and if we don’t we might go that route,” he said.

There’s growing concern about the toll the shutdown is taking on everyday Americans, including disruptions in payments to farmers and trouble for home buyers who are seeking government-backed mortgage loans — “serious stuff,” according to Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, urged colleagues to approve spending bills that would reopen various agencies, “so that whether it’s the Department of the Interior or it is the IRS, those folks can get back to work. I’d like to see that.”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called the standoff “completely unnecessary and contrived. People expect their government to work. ... This obviously is not working.”