Government shutdown hits after Congress adjourns without a deal on Trump's border wall
Roughly one-quarter of the federal government officially shut down Friday night as Congress and President Trump remained deadlocked over money for his proposed border wall, the second time in less than a year that the nation’s unyielding divisions over immigration have led to the closure of federal agencies.
Lawmakers who spent Friday in fitful, inconclusive negotiations with White House officials said they would resume talks on Saturday, hoping to break the stalemate, which threatens the paychecks of some 800,000 government workers.
For now, with most government offices already closed for the weekend and the Christmas holiday, the shutdown will have limited effect, although it may hamper activities at some national parks. But if it continues for long, it could have a widening impact on the public, delaying home sales and tax refunds, closing passport offices and snarling a long list of government functions.
Friday evening, House and Senate leaders sent their members home. Lawmakers leaving the Capitol indicated they were promised 24 hours’ notice before the next vote.
Senate leaders agreed Friday afternoon that no plan would get a vote in the chamber until Trump and the top Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate had signed off on it. Lawmakers hoped that pact to avoid meaningless votes would smooth the process of getting a bill that could pass both chambers and be signed by the president.
Lawmakers acknowledged that there was no clear pathway to resolve the standoff unless Trump drops his demands about the U.S.-Mexico border wall. To get through the Senate, any bill would need the support of nine Democrats, but the party has unanimously rejected money for the wall.
Trump has demanded $5 billion for wall construction. Senators previously agreed on $1.6 billion that could be used to upgrade existing border fences, but not to begin construction of a new border wall. In talks Friday, White House officials spoke with lawmakers about a possible package that would include the $1.6 billion. It was unclear what other elements might be included.
Senate Republicans were visibly frustrated earlier Friday that Trump whipsawed them this week on whether he would insist on funds for a wall on the border. They had agreed to a spending bill earlier this week that didn’t fund the wall with the understanding that Trump would sign it. Then, the House approved $5.7 billion for the wall after Trump reversed course and demanded the money.
“It would have been great if they had told us they wanted this fight, because we would have started working on it on Wednesday,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who supports the border wall funding. “They now have made that clear.”
“The key here is we have to get clarity from the president on what his priorities are,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who rarely speaks to reporters in the Capitol hallways, even paused to show off a campaign button for the “Senate Cranky Coalition."
"This is the unanimous position of the Senate Republican conference at the moment," McConnell said of the pin. Within hours, half a dozen other senators were wearing the same button.
Days before Christmas, lawmakers were visibly frustrated that they were stuck in Washington over a partisan dispute that would do little more than fund the government for seven weeks, a mere kick of the can.
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz flew home to Hawaii only to turn around and fly back to Washington to vote down the wall proposal.
