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The government shutdown: What we know now and what happens next

January 26, 2018 17:27·
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the annual March for Life rally taking place on the National Mall from the White House Rose Garden in Washington U.S

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the annual March for Life rally taking place on the National Mall from the White House Rose Garden in Washington U.S

"We were poised to send him a compromise solution and erase the threat of a shutdown, but my friend across the aisle has shut down the government for hundreds of millions of Americans because you didn't get everything you wanted in one meeting on Friday with the president", he said.

The closure of many government agencies was a striking display of Washington dysfunction, played out on the anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration, and there was more finger-pointing than signs of bipartisan dealmaking.

During the last shutdown in 2013, about 800,000 federal workers were put on furlough.

On Saturday evening, Eric Trump spoke to Fox News' Jeanine Pirro about the shutdown, saying, "Honestly, I think it's a good thing for us, because people see through it".

Both parties are wagering that voters will punish the other at the ballot box in November.

Calling it the "Trump Shutdown", the minority leader lambasted the President over not doing enough to strike a compromise.

But without a quick deal, most day-to-day operations in the federal government will be disrupted.

"Conservatives enthusiastically promoted the notion that Democrats were taking the government to the cusp of a shutdown to benefit undocumented immigrants", The Washington Post reports.

McConnell and the GOP won't change the Senate rules for a simple majority.

"We now have a window of opportunity, where this group has to show that it can work together and build a bipartisan consensus that produces a product, worthy of time on the floor", said U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) on MSNBC.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who herself is in a tough re-election fight, was one of five Senate Democrats who voted against the shutdown.

The government shut down on Friday when the chamber failed to cast the necessary 60 votes to pass a stop-gap bill to fund the government through February 16.

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Trump earlier had worked the phones, staying in touch with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., while White House legislative affairs director Marc Short and the budget chief, Mulvaney, met at the Capitol with House Republicans.

A key vote is set to be held in a last-ditch attempt to reopen the United States government before hundreds of thousands of federal workers are forced to start the working week with no pay.

Trump, who did not make any public appearances on Sunday, has refused to negotiate on the Democratic concerns about immigration while the government is shuttered.

The House and Senate are reconvening in an attempt to broker an agreement to fund the government, with the House expected to hold votes following a round of speeches.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said later Trump will not negotiate immigration policy with Congress until the shutdown ends.

Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell attempted to schedule a vote Sunday night that would end the shutdown, but Minority Leader Sen.

Democrats, who initially dug in on a demand for legislation to protect about 700,000 "Dreamer" immigrants who were brought illegally to the country as children, shifted their messaging to blame the shutdown on the incompetence of President Donald Trump and Republican leadership.

Update (4:15 p.m.) The House followed the Senate in passing legislation to reopen the government after a weekend-long shutdown 266-150.

At the center of the soured negotiations was the Obama-era DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, which has protected some young immigrants from deportation. Republican Sens. Mike Lee and Rand Paul voted against ending debate, as did Democratic Sens.

And with the fundamental row on immigration and funding of Trump's border wall unresolved, Republicans and Democrats may very well find themselves back in a similar stalemate come Feb 9.

He pointed to statements made by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of NY made as the shutdown hour approached Friday night.

They gathered again on Sunday in Las Vegas, Nevada, chanting: "Power to the polls".

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