Congress: No deal to end shutdown
Plan for temporary funding through Feb. 8 falls through
WASHINGTON — Congress failed to reach a deal late Sunday to end the federal shutdown, ensuring a third day of disruptions and delays in scores of federal agencies, after Senate leaders could not agree to a bipartisan proposal to reopen the government for the start of the workweek.
Talks are expected to resume Monday, with a morning Senate vote scheduled, but most federal offices, many national parks and other federal facilities will be closed until the stalemate over government funding is resolved.
An estimated 850,000 federal workers might be furloughed or otherwise directly affected, but millions of Americans will be inconvenienced as several federal agencies strip back to essential workers and normal operations grind to a halt.
“Talks will continue,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “But we have yet to reach an agreement on a path forward that will be acceptable for both sides.”
The setback came despite intense talks on Capitol Hill as congressional leaders in both parties searched for an exit ramp. Moderate Republicans and Democrats appeared to rally behind a short-term funding proposal, and the White House signaled possible flexibility on “Dreamers.”
Hopes for a breakthrough grew after Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell and Schumer, who had not spoken for a day, huddled briefly on the Senate floor and met later Sunday to consider the proposal for a three-week temporary funding bill brokered by a bipartisan group of senators.
But the deal Mcconnell offered late Sunday — to temporarily fund the government through Feb. 8, with a promise to take up immigration legislation at that time — remained out of reach.
Schumer blamed Republicans, who control the House, Senate and White House, especially after President Donald Trump backed out of a possible agreement. Schumer said he even agreed to put Trump’s request for border wall funds — some $20 billion over several years, sources said — on the table for consideration.
The White House disputed that account, and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called Schumer’s recollection “hazy.”
“His account of Friday’s meeting is false,” Sanders said. “The president’s position is clear: We will not negotiate on the status of unlawful immigrants while Senator Schumer and the Democrats hold the government for millions of Americans and our troops hostage.”
Trump, forced to give up his planned weekend at his Mar-a-lago resort in Florida, spoke to the heads of the departments of Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to gauge the impact of the shutdown, according to the White House.
He took to Twitter to blame Democrats for the impasse and to urge Senate Republicans to change the rules to allow a bill to pass with a simple majority, not the 60 votes now required.
Republicans and Democrats are most divided on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which Trump has promised to end bymarch5.