Democrats pressured to end shutdown

WASHINGTON— U.S. President Donald Trump attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday for rejecting his proposal to end the partial government shutdown, as he and Republican leaders in Congress sought to put Democrats on defence, a place they have rarely been during the shutdown stalemate.

In a series of morning tweets, Trump said Pelosi had behaved “so irrationally” in spurning his offer to restore the temporary protections he took away from some unauthorized immigrants in exchange for $5.7 billion for a border wall. He also pushed back against conservative critics who called the plan amnesty for immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, plans to bring up legislation as early as Tuesday that would wrap Trump’s proposal into a broader package that would include billions of dollars in disaster relief and immediately reopen the government, an aide said. The move is intended to ratchet up pressure on Democrats, who have insisted they will not negotiate with Trump until the shutdown is over.

“President Trump has put forward a serious and reasonable offer to reform parts of our broken immigration system and reopen government,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader, said on Twitter.

But there was little indication from Democrats, who have denounced Trump’s plan as “hostage taking,” that they would abandon that position.