Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Democrats decline invitation to lunch
Trump’s offer to talk wall excluded Pelosi; McConnell blasts ‘political carousel’
WASHINGTON — The White House ran quickly into the limits of trying to bypass Speaker Nancy Pelosi in shutdown negotiations when rank-and-file House Democrats declined an invitation to lunch Tuesday with President Donald Trump.
The administration is trying to negotiate directly with centrist lawmakers and some newly elected freshmen, including those in districts where Trump is popular, to get support for Trump’s demand for border wall money.
Pelosi gave her blessing for lawmakers to accept the invitation, but White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that “unfortunately” no Democrats accepted.
The White House did not immediately say which Democrats were invited, and several freshmen Democrats said they had not received an invitation. Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, a centrist Democrat, said the administration strategy was “grasping at straws.”
Sanders said the president would be dining instead with nine Republicans. “The president looks forward to having a working lunch with House Republicans to solve the border crisis and reopen the government,” she said.
The outreach was a shift for the White House as the shutdown was in its 25th day, with no resolution in sight.
House Democrats announced they would cancel their district work period next week and have lawmakers remain in Washington during the shutdown stalemate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor that it’s up to Democrats to get the country off the “political carousel” of the shutdown fight. The Kentucky Republican said Democrats have turned Trump’s wall into “something evil” and have engaged in “acrobatic contortions” to avoid dealing with the security and humanitarian crisis at the southern border.
With the government shutdown now in its fourth week, negotiations between the White House and Congress are at a standstill. Trump has demanded $5.7 billion for the border wall; Democrats are refusing but are offering money for fencing and other border-security measures.
Also Tuesday, Trump pointed to a new caravan heading toward the U.S. border from Honduras as he sought to gain leverage in his protracted fight for border-wall funding.
“A big new Caravan is heading up to our Southern Border from Honduras. Tell Nancy and Chuck that a drone flying around will not stop them. Only a Wall will work,” Trump tweeted Tuesday, referring to Pelosi and Senate Minority leader Charles Schumer.
The first groups of migrants left San Pedro Sula’s bus station Monday night, with many women and children boarding buses bound for the Guatemalan border while others started walking and hitchhiking under a steady rain.
Others departed Tuesday morning trying to catch up. Some pushed toddlers in strollers or walked holding older children’s hands. More people continued to arrive at the bus station, making it likely the caravan’s numbers could grow.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Washington on Tuesday refused to force the government to pay federal employees who have been working without compensation during the partial government shutdown, rejecting arguments from labor unions that unpaid work violates labor laws and the Constitution.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said it would be “profoundly irresponsible” to issue an order that would result in thousands of employees staying home from work.
“At best it would create chaos and confusion,” Leon said. “At worst it could be catastrophic … I’m not going to put people’s lives at risk.”
Leon ruled against a consolidated claim that the National Treasury Employees Union and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association filed against the government, alleging that employees should not be forced to work without pay. The list of unionized employees who have had to work without pay during the shutdown include the Internal Revenue Service, Customs and Border Protection, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Park Service, the Agriculture Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission.
Leon ruled from the bench during the hearing Tuesday in Washington, declining to issue a temporary restraining order compelling the government to pay its employees. His move keeps the status quo, allowing the shutdown to continue.
Information for this article was contributed by Catherine Lucey, Jill Colvin, Darlene Superville, Matthew Daly, Jonathan Lemire, Alan Fram, Lisa Mascaro, Andrew Taylor, Laurie Kellman, Delmer Martinez, Christopher Sherman, Maria Verza and Elliot Spagat of The Associated Press; and by Deanna Paul, Katie Zezima, Spencer S. Hsu, Ann E. Marinow, Michael Laris and Ashley Halsey III of The Washington Post.