US Govt Shuts Down At Midnight As House Adjourns With No Deal

The US House of Representatives adjourned Friday (Dec 21)
without Congress passing a spending deal, assuring a partial
government shutdown at midnight as President Donald Trump and
lawmakers remain at odds over border wall funding.

Operations for several key agencies will cease in the early
hours of Saturday, despite last-ditch talks that continued on
Capitol Hill between White House officials and congressional
leaders in both parties.

Trump is seeking US$5 billion for construction of a wall on the
US border with Mexico. Democrats are staunchly opposed, and the
absence of an elusive deal means federal funds for dozens of
agencies will lapse at midnight.

It remained unclear how long the shutdown will last. But the
optics are bad, as hundreds of thousands of federal employees will
be either furloughed or forced to work without pay in the run up to
the Christmas holiday.

The House is due back in session at noon (1700 GMT)
Saturday.

The Senate meanwhile remained open late Friday, but there were
no signs yet of a breakthrough, and the chamber was quiet.

Senators told reporters that congressional leaders from both
parties were negotiating behind the scenes with White House
officials including Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s son-in-law
Jared Kushner, and incoming chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

One focus of discussion was the US$1.6 billion in border
security funding that was a part of pending Senate legislation,
number two Senate Republican John Cornyn told AFP.

But conservatives in the House would likely balk at that
figure.

“There’s no agreement,” congressman Mark Meadows, chairman of
the House Freedom Caucus of ultra-conservatives, told reporters as
he made his way from Senate meetings to the House.

“There’s a whole lot of numbers being thrown around,” but a
maximum US$1.6 billion for border security “is not acceptable.”

Trump was scheduled to fly to Florida late Friday for his
Christmas break, but the White House said the president postponed
the trip and would remain in Washington in an effort to salvage a
spending deal.

Source: AFP/aj

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