US on path to shutdown

Talks break down over number of immigrants who can be detained

The United States appeared to be a step closer to another government shutdown after talks on border security funding collapsed after Democratic and Republican lawmakers clashed over immigrant detention policy yesterday. The delicate negotiations collapsed over Democrats’ insistence on limiting the number of unauthorised immigrants who can be detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The breakdown in talks made it unlikely that lawmakers will be able to finalise an agreement today, as they’d hope to do so it could pass the House and Senate before Saturday’s deadline. “I think the talks are stalled right now,” Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama, the lead Republican negotiator, said on Fox News. “I’m not confident we’re going to get there.” The stalemate left the path forward to keeping the government open unclear. There were some behind-thescenes efforts to salvage the talks yesterday, but it was uncertain whether they would be successful. The White House wouldn't rule out a renewed partial government shutdown if an agreement isn't reached. However, Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney signalled that the White House would prefer not to have a repeat of the last shutdown, which stretched more than a month, left more than 800,000 government workers without pay cheques, forced a postponement of the State of the Union address and sent Trump's poll numbers tumbling. As support in his own party began to splinter, Trump surrendered late last month after the shutdown hit 35 days without getting money for the wall. This time, Mulvaney signalled that the White House may be willing to take whatever congressional money comes — even if less than Trump’s goal — and then supplement that with other government funds. “The President is going to build the wall. That’s our attitude at this point,” Mulvaney said on Fox News. “We’ll take as much money as you can give us, and we’ll go find the money somewhere else, legally, and build that wall on the southern border, with or without Congress.”