Trump won’t declare emergency, rejects short-term fix

Neither White House nor Democrats budging as workers’ fears increase

With the government mired in shutdown week four, U.S. President Donald Trump rejected a short-term legislative fix and dug in for more combat Monday, declaring he would “never ever back down.”

Trump rejected a suggestion to reopen the government for several weeks while negotia- tions would continue with Democrats over his demands for $5.7 billion (U.S.) for a long, impregnable wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The president also edged further away from the idea of trying to declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress.

“I’m not looking to call a national emergency,” Trump said. “This is so simple, we shouldn’t have to.”

No cracks were apparent in the president’s deadlock with lawmakers after a weekend with no negotiations at all. His rejection of the short-term option proposed by Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham removed one path forward, and little else was in sight. Congressional Republicans were watching Trump for a signal for how to move next, and Democrats have not budged from their refusal to fund the wall and their demand that he reopen government before border talks resume. The White House has been considering reaching out to rank-and-file Democrats rather than dealing with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to try and chip away at Democratic opposition to the wall. A White House official said plans were in the works to call freshman representatives, especially those who initially did not support Pelosi’s bid for the speakership.

It was uncertain whether any Democrats would respond to the invitation.

Meanwhile, the effect of the 24-day partial government closure was intensifying around the country. Some 800,000 federal workers missed paycheques Friday, deepening anxieties about mortgage payments and unpaid bills, and about half of them were off the job, cutting off some services.