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Shutdown could go into the new year
Mulvaney: Ball is in the Senate’s court
WASHINGTON — A top White House official warned Sunday that it’s “very possible” the partial government shutdown stretches into the new year and that how quickly numerous shuttered Cabinet departments and agencies resume doing the people’s business is up to Congress.
“The ball is in the Senate’s court,” acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said.
Senate Democrats, who oppose funding for President Donald Trump’s promised border wall,
contend government could reopen immediately if Trump drops his demand to extend a physical barrier along the U.S.Mexico border.
A stalemate over the wall led parts of the government to shut down Saturday after funding for numerous departments and agencies expired.
Mulvaney, who is also director of the White House budget office, said he’s awaiting word from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York after the administration on Saturday presented Schumer with a counteroffer in the long-running dispute over funding the wall.
Mulvaney withheld specifics but placed the offer between Trump’s $5.7 billion request and $1.3 billion offered by Democrats.
The shutdown was expected to last through Thursday after the House and Senate adjourned until later in the week. Monday and Tuesday, Christmas Eve and Christmas, respectively, are federal holidays, meaning much of the federal government would already be closed.
Wednesday is the first day taxpayers could begin to feel the effects of a shutdown, Mulvaney said. But he predicted it could last beyond Thursday, when Congress is next scheduled to come into session.
“It’s very possible that this shutdown will go beyond the 28th and into the new Congress,” he said.
Democrats held firm Sunday in opposition to paying for a border wall, which was a central promise of Trump’s campaign for president.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said the administration is sitting on most of the money Congress gave Trump last year for border security, excluding a wall.
“If you’re not going to spend nine out of 10 dollars on an issue, you obviously don’t care about it that much,” Merkley said. “This is politics, not policy.”
Mulvaney countered that “the president’s not going to not accept money for a border wall.”
On the second day of the federal closure, Trump tweeted Sunday that what the country needs is “a good old fashioned WALL that works,” as opposed to aerial drones and other measures that “are wonderful and lots of fun” but not the right answer to address “drugs, gangs, human trafficking, criminal elements and much else from coming into” the United States.
From coast to coast, the first day of the shutdown played out in uneven ways. The Statue of Liberty remained open for tours, thanks to money from New York state, and the U.S. Postal Service, an independent agency, was still delivering mail.
Yet the disruption has affected many government operations and the routines of 800,000 federal employees. Roughly 420,000 workers were deemed essential and were expected to work unpaid. An additional 380,000 were to be furloughed, meaning they will stay home without pay. The Senate had already passed legislation ensuring that workers will receive back pay, and the House was likely to follow suit.
“Listen, anything can happen,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters after he closed the Senate’s rare Saturday session hours after it opened.
But after ushering Vice President Mike Pence through the Capitol for another round of negotiations, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said a quick end to the shutdown was “not probable.” With Democrats set to take control of the House on Jan. 3, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on his way out, the shutdown was providing a last gasp of the conservative majority before the new Congress.
Schumer and Vice President Mike Pence met Saturday, according to Schumer’s office. But the senator’s spokesman said they remained “very far apart” on a spending agreement.