Standoff ensures shutdown United States
White House negotiators left the Capitol yesterday, and the House and Senate adjourned without a spending deal, ensuring a partial US government shutdown, with President Donald Trump demanding billions of dollars for his long-promised Mexican border wall.
Trump’s top envoys were straining to broker a last-minute compromise with Democrats and some of their own Republican Party’s lawmakers. But VicePresident Mike Pence, incoming White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and senior adviser Jared Kushner departed after hours spent dashing back and forth, with no outward signs of an agreement.
The shutdown, which took effect from midnight (6pm NZ time), will disrupt government operations and leave hundreds of thousands of federal workers on leave or forced to work without pay just days before Christmas. Senators passed legislation ensuring workers will receive back pay; it will be sent to the House.
At a White House bill signing, Trump said the government was ‘‘totally prepared for a very long shutdown’’, though hardly anyone thought a lengthy shutdown was likely.
The president tried to pin the blame on Democrats, even though just last week he said he would be ‘‘proud’’ to claim ownership of a shutdown in a fight for the wall.
‘‘This is our only chance that we’ll ever have, in our opinion, because of the world and the way it breaks out, to get great border security,’’ Trump said yesterday.
Democrats will take control of the House in January, and they oppose major funding for wall construction.
Looking for a way to claim victory, Trump said he would accept money for a ‘‘Steel Slat Barrier’’ with spikes on the top, which he said would be just as effective as a wall and ‘‘at the same time beautiful’’.
Congress is planning to be back in session today, but no votes are scheduled.
Trump convened Republican senators for a morning meeting, but the lengthy back-and-forth did not appear to set a strategy for moving forward. The president has demanded US$5.7 billion for the wall.
Maryland’s Steny Hoyer, the No 2 Democrat in the House, said it looked like a shutdown might not be avoidable but top leaders were talking, and he indicated that any government disruption could be short.
At issue is funding for nine of 15 cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks and forests.