U.S. government shutdown underway
Talks continue in Senate overnight in bid for compromise after spending bill rejected
WASHINGTON—The United States government began shutting down early today after a flurry of dramatic, last-minute negotiations failed to end the congressional deadlock over a spending bill before a midnight EST deadline.
But it might be temporary. Intensive talks were continuing into the night on the Senate floor and a breakthrough was possible.
The negotiations could not stop what became the first government shutdown since 2013, when Republicans led the unpopular 16-day closure in their failed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
Earlier in the night, Senate Democrats — joined by some Republican deficit hawks and immigration allies — filibustered a stopgap funding bill approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday. That sent all sides searching for an alternative deal.
U.S. President Donald Trump postponed his weekend getaway to Mar-a-Lago as the livelihoods of federal workers hung in the balance.
On Friday morning, Trump reached out directly to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, who rushed to the White House for a 90-minute meeting.
After the meeting between the two New Yorkers — which was attended only by the two of them and their chiefs of staff — Schumer, who cut a previous budget deal with Trump in the fall over the strong objections of Republican leaders, said progress had been made but disagreements remained. Trump, in a tweet, called it an “excellent preliminary meeting.”
But according to Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, Trump largely washed his hands of the crisis and urged congressional leaders to sort it out themselves.
“He wasn’t going to get in the middle of it,” Cornyn said. “It’s not his job. It’s Congress’ job.”
At best, Congress would only be working on another short-term plan to keep agencies open. Whether a long-term shutdown takes place or not, the constant short-term budgeting has caused serious damage, Defence Secretary James N. Mattis warned Friday.
The constant round of shortterm measures, known as continuing resolutions, has been “debilitating” for military readiness, Mattis said. “No enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than the combined effect of the Budget Control Act’s defence spending caps, and nine of the last 10 years operating under continuing resolutions.”
As the day went on, lawmakers scrambled to assign blame. Republicans started characterizing the standoff as the “Schumer Shutdown.” They accused Democratic senators of holding money for government agencies “hostage” as Democrats demanded deportation protections for “Dreamers,” young immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children.
Protected status for Dreamers, which has allowed them to live and work legally in the U.S., could expire soon because Trump wants to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused the Democrats of putting the needs of Dreamers ahead of the rest of the country and having “shoehorned” immigration into the funding debate when Congress has at least until March before the DACA program expires. A federal court has ordered the administration to keep DACA intact for now, and although the administration has appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, it has not taken any steps to block it.
Republicans also accused Democrats of hypocrisy, noting that in the past, when Republicans have tried to use shutdown threats, Democrats have said that keeping government agencies funded should take priority over policy disputes.
Democrats say any shutdown would be the Republicans’ fault because they control both houses of Congress and the White House. The DACA dispute could have been resolved last week if Trump had accepted a bipartisan deal negotiated by Sens. Lindsey Graham, a Republican., and Democrat Richard Durbin, the Democrats said.
Graham voted against the House-passed bill. So did Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Lee of Utah and Jeff Flake of Arizona, undercutting Republican efforts to blame a shutdown on Democrats. Five Democrats voted in favour of the bill.