Shutdown begins as Trump negotiates on border wall

Bloomberg

Parts of the US government began shutting down on Saturday for the third time this year after a bipartisan spending deal collapsed over President Donald Trump’s demands for more money to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.
Trump scuttled an agreement that would have kept the government open until February after coming under heavy criticism from conservative talk show hosts and some allies in the House because the measure didn’t include the $5 billion he wanted for the wall. While negotiations to resolve the impasse are underway, it’s not clear whether parts of the government will remain shuttered for days or weeks.
Ending the shutdown — which affects nine of 15 federal departments and dozens of agencies — requires Democratic leaders and Trump to reach a compromise, which so far has been elusive as both sides hardened their positions. The House and Senate were expected to convene at noon on Saturday, but lawmakers were told they’ll be given 24 hours’ notice of any planned votes.
The failure of elected officials to keep the government fully operating caps a chaotic week in Washington, during which Trump announced a withdrawal of all US forces from Syria, a draw-down of US forces in Afghanistan, and the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
Negotiations between the White House and Democrats went on. Trump’s emissaries were Vice President Mike Pence, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who shuttled between private meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said Republicans made an offer on a funding measure and were waiting for a response from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
“I am hopeful,” he said of the negotiations. “We’ve made some overtures.”
Talks revolved around providing less money for border barriers and more restrictions than Trump initially demanded.
Congressional leaders said they wouldn’t call lawmakers back for votes until both chambers and the White House had an agreement on how to end the dispute. The two previous shutdowns earlier this year were short-lived and were over issues including immigration and spending levels.
The blow-up was sudden. The Senate easily passed a temporary spending measure without any money for the wall after getting signals from the White House that Trump wouldn’t press the issue and trigger a shutdown. But after the outcry from conservatives, the House, at Trump’s insistence, amended it a day later to include $5 billion for the wall. That was unacceptable to Democrats who have enough votes in the Senate to block the legislation.