President to make case to nation

WASHINGTON — With no breakthrough in sight, President Donald Trump will argue his case to the nation Tuesday night that a “crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border requires an immediate down payment of several billion dollars for the long and invulnerable wall he’s demanding before ending the partial government shutdown.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers face missed paychecks Friday as the shutdown drags through a third week.

Trump’s Oval Office speech — his first as president— will be followed by his visit Thursday to the southern border to highlight his demand for a barrier. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that he will use the visit to “meet with those on the front lines of the national security and humanitarian crisis.”

The administration is also at least talking about the idea of declaring a national emergency to allow Trump to move forward on the wall without Congress approving the $5.6 billion he wants. Vice President Mike Pence said

the White House counsel’s office is looking at the idea.

Such a move would certainly draw legal challenges, and Trump — who told lawmakers he would be willing to keep the government closed for months or even years — has said he would like to continue negotiations for now.

As Trump’s prime-time address and his border visit were announced, newly empowered House Democrats — and a few Republican senators — stepped up pressure on GOP lawmakers to reopen the government without giving in to the president’s demands The closure, which has lasted 17 days, is already the second-longest in history and would become the longest this weekend.

Leaning on Senate Republicans, some of whom are growing anxious about the shutdown, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would begin passing individual bills this week that would reopen federal agencies, starting with the Treasury Department to ensure Americans receive their tax refunds.

The White House moved to pre-empt the Democrats, telling reporters Monday that tax refunds would be paid despite the shutdown. That exemption would break from the practice of earlier administrations and could be challenged.

“There is an indefinite appropriation to pay tax refunds. As a result the refunds will go out as normal,” said Russell Vought, acting director of the White House budget office.

This week’s action in the House will be coupled by a new Democratic strategy in the Senate, where Democrats plan to block any legislation on the floor that doesn’t reopen the federal government, The Washington Post reported.

Privately, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has told the rest of his caucus that he would vote against advancing the first bill on the Senate floor this year, which would authorize security assistance to Israel and include provisions aimed at promoting security in the Middle East.

Democrats plan to vote against the measure to pressure McConnell to pass legislation funding the government, according to a senior Senate Democratic aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss party strategy.

There were other signs that the administration was working to control damage from the shutdown, which has furloughed 380,000 federal workers and forced 420,000 more to work without pay.

The National Park Service said it was dipping into entrance fees to pay for staffing at some highly visited parks to maintain restrooms, clean up trash and patrol the grounds, after reports of human waste and garbage overflowing in some spots.

Over the weekend, the federal agency tasked with guaranteeing U.S. airport security acknowledged an increase in the number of its employees missing work or calling in sick.

But Trump and the Transportation Security Administration pushed back on any suggestion that the call-outs at the agency represented a “sickout” that was having a significant effect on U.S. air travel. TSA said it screened more than 2.2 million passengers Sunday, a historically busy day due to holiday travel. Ninety percent waited less than 15 minutes, the agency said.

The talks over ending the shutdown have been at an impasse over Trump’s demand for the wall. He has offered to build the barrier with steel rather than concrete, billing that as a concession to Democrats’ objections. They “don’t like concrete, so we’ll give them steel,” he said.

But Democrats have made clear that they object to the wall itself, not how it’s constructed. They see it as immoral and ineffective and prefer other types of border security funded at already agreed-upon levels.

“Maybe he thinks he can bully us. But I’m from Brooklyn. You let a bully succeed, you’ll be bullied again worse,” Schumer said at a breakfast with the Association for a Better New York.

Asked whether cracks were forming between the White House and Republicans eager for the shutdown to end, Pence told reporters, “We’ve been in touch with those members and others.”

He said that he and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen would be at the Capitol on Tuesday and Wednesday to brief lawmakers.

Among the Republicans expressing concern was Sen. Susan Collins, RMaine, who said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should take up funding bills from the Democratic-led House.

“Let’s get those reopened while the negotiations continue,” Collins said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

McConnell has said he won’t take up funding bills without Trump’s support.