Saturday, January 26, 2019 Shutdown over, for now
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday announced a deal with congressional leaders to temporarily reopen the government while talks continue on his demand for borderwall money, a move expected to bring an end to the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
The pact, announced by Trump from the Rose Garden at the White House, would reopen shuttered government departments for three weeks while leaving the issue of $5.7 billion for the U.s.-mexico border wall to further talks.
First the Senate, then the House swiftly and unanimously approved the deal. It was sent to Trump, who signed it Friday night.
The outcome was a win for Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-calif., who had insisted on no negotiations until the
government was reopened.
“The president thought he could crack Democrats, and he didn’t, and I hope it’s a lesson for him,” said the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer. Pelosi said of her members: “Our unity is our power. And that is what maybe the president underestimated.”
Trump said that a congressional conference committee would spend the next three weeks working in a bipartisan fashion to come up with a border-security package. He made it clear that he expects wall funding to be a prominent part of that.
“They are willing to put partisanship aside, I think, and put the security of the American people first,” Trump said. But he added: “No border-security plan can ever work without a physical barrier. It just doesn’t happen.”
The deal allows federal employees to return to work, and Trump said they would receive back pay as soon
as possible. But the agreement sets up another fight in coming weeks over the same issues at the heart of the impasse.
Trump said that if a “fair deal” does not emerge by Feb. 15, there could be another government shutdown or he could declare a national emergency, a tactic that could allow him to direct the military to build the wall without congressional consent. Such an action would likely face an immediate legal challenge.
In his remarks, Trump called federal workers “incredible patriots.” As the shutdown stretched into its 35th day Friday, about 800,000 government workers missed a second paycheck.
Trump’s announcement came as major delays at airports across the country produced a heightened sense of urgency.
The impetus to reach a solution had clearly increased among lawmakers of both parties in recent days, as the mushrooming effects of the shutdown have become more apparent.
That included reports Friday of significant delays at key airports in the Northeast because of absences of unpaid
air-traffic controllers that could multiply across the country at other airports. Federal officials temporarily restricted flights into and out of New York’s Laguardia Airport, while travelers were grounded for extended periods in other cities, including Newark and Philadelphia.
The shutdown was also creating a strain on the Internal Revenue Service. At least 14,000 unpaid workers in the IRS division that includes tax processing and call centers did not show up for work this week despite orders to do so, according to two House aides.
Talks betweensenate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, R-KY., and Schumer began Thursday following the chamber’s failure to pass either of two competing bills to end the impasse.
Pelosi said earlier Friday that House Democrats were holding off on plans to unveil a border-security proposal expected to match or exceed the $5.7 billion Trump has demanded for a southern border wall. That proposal was to be focused on other border-secutiry initiatives, not direct funding for Trump’s wall.
“We want to see what’s
happening on the Senate side,” Pelosi said.
She later went on Twitter, writing that the “#Trumpshutdown has already pushed hundreds of thousands of Americans to the breaking point. Now it’s pushing our airspace to the breaking point too.”
A Washington POST-ABC poll released shortly before Trump spoke suggested the protracted shutdown was taking a toll on his popularity.
The poll found that public disapproval of the president had swollen five points, to 58 percent, over three months, as a majority of Americans continued to hold him and congressional Republicans most responsible for the shutdown.
As border talks resume, Mcconnell said he hopes there will be “good-faith negotiations over the next three weeks to try to resolve our differences.”
Schumer said that while Democrats oppose the wall money, they agree on other ways to secure the border “and that bodes well for coming to an eventual agreement.”
In striking the accord, Trump risks backlash from conservatives who pushed him to keep fighting for the wall. Some lashed out Friday for his having yielded, for now, on his signature campaign promise.
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter suggested on Twitter that she views Trump as “the biggest wimp” to serve as president.
Some lawmakers expressed frustration at the notion of a short-term solution even before Trump spoke.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-fla., said he would prefer to see a broader deal that includes “a permanent plan” on how to deal with young undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers” and some other immigration issues.
“Why don’t we do it one time and get it behind us?” Scott asked.
While the government is being reopened, the president will not deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday, as had been planned before the shutdown, according to a person familiar with the planning. A new date is being sought.