GOP, Democrats trade blame for US shutdown

WASHINGTON: The partial government shutdown will almost certainly be handed off to a divided government to solve in the new year, as US President Donald Trump sought to raise the stakes yesterday and both parties traded blame in the week-long impasse.

Mr Trump is sticking with his demand for money to build a wall along the southern border and Democrats, who take control of the House on January 3, are refusing to give him what he wants.

Mr Trump worked to escalate the showdown yesterday, reissuing threats to close the US-Mexico border to pressure Congress to fund the wall and to shut off aid to three Central American countries from which many migrants have fled.

Incoming acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Mr Trump had cancelled plans to travel to Florida for New Year.

The shutdown is forcing hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors to stay home or work without pay and many are experiencing stress from the impasse.

Gates are closed at national parks, while the Smithsonian Institution also announced that museums and galleries popular with visitors and locals in the nation’s capital would close starting midweek if the partial shutdown drags on.