The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Where government shutdown stands
The partial U.S. government shutdown entered its second week on Saturday, with nearly 14,000 workers at the Environmental Protection Agency going on furlough and the Smithsonian announcing its museums will close Jan. 2 unless the shutdown ends. There’s been no sign of progress toward ending President Donald Trump’s standoff with Democrats over funding for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
President Donald Trump and Democrats traded blame for the partial government shutdown but did little substantive talking with each other Saturday. Here’s the latest on the shutdown:
■ Trump tweeted Saturday that he’s “in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come on over and make a deal on Border Security.” But there has been little direct contact between the sides during the stalemate, and Trump did not ask Republicans, who hold a monopoly on power in Washington for another five days, to keep Congress in session.
■ The president did leave the White House on Friday night to join the three men at the center of the negotiations, Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, for dinner at Pence’s residence at the Naval Observatory.
■ Mulvaney said Democrats are no longer negotiating with the administration over an earlier offer by the White House to accept less than the $5 billion Trump wants for the wall. Democrats said the White House offered to accept $2.5 billion for border security, but that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told Pence that it wasn’t acceptable. It was also not guaranteed that Trump would settle for that amount.
■ The Smithsonian said all museums, research centers and the National Zoo will close starting Jan. 2 unless the shutdown ends. Closings would include the popular National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of African American History & Culture on the National Mall in Washington, and the Cooper Hewitt design museum in New York.
■ Federal flood insurance policies will continue to be issued and renewed, in a reversal prompted by pressure from lawmakers, said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
■ The EPA used funds already on hand to continue operation for a week, but was set to exhaust those. Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said employees would be put on furlough and travel would be canceled.
■ Coast Guard service members almost had to miss their final paychecks of 2018. Chief Warrant Officer Chad Saylor, a spokesman, had said Friday that the service’s Dec. 31 paychecks wouldn’t be delivered because unlike other U.S. military branches, it’s under the Department of Homeland Security. The Defense Department isn’t affected by the shutdown. Later on Friday, a Coast Guard workforce blog said the service had found a way to pay its military workforce in a “one-time action.”
■ The Senate and House are set to hold sessions Monday but no votes are scheduled.
■ Democrats take control of the House on Thursday, when Nancy Pelosi, who’s in line to become speaker, says the chamber will pass a spending bill to reopen the government — without money for a wall.
■ The shutdown, which began Dec. 22, affects nine of the 15 federal departments, dozens of agencies, and hundreds of thousands of workers. Among the departments without funding are: Justice, Homeland Security, Interior and Treasury. Independent agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, are also affected.
■ If the standoff continues, all workers in the nine departments and dozens of agencies affected by the closure will miss their next paycheck on Jan. 11.
■ An estimated 400,000 federal employees are working without pay and 350,000 are furloughed, according to a congressional Democratic aide.
■ Federal employees working without pay and those now furloughed got their Dec. 28 paychecks under a decision by the White House budget office since pay reflects work before Dec. 21.