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US federal government shuts down partially as Mexican wall deadlock on
Departments impacted by the shutdown included agriculture, state, interior, justice, homeland security and NASA. Defence, postal services and veteran affairs and the bulk of the federal government, three-fourths, escaped as their budgets had been cleared earlier
The United States federal government shut down partially early Saturday after President Donald Trump and the Congress failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill that would set money for a wall along the border with Mexico.
There was no estimate of how long the shutdown or when the negotiations would resume to find a deal to keep the government funded till February. President Trump had cancelled his travel plans to his Florida resort for Christmas and was staying in town.
Departments impacted by the shutdown included agriculture, state, interior, justice, homeland security and NASA. Defence, postal services and veteran affairs and the bulk of the federal government, three-fourths, escaped as their budgets had been cleared earlier. In all 380,000 federal workers will stay home and 420,000, considered essential workers, will work but without pay.
This is the third shutdown in the two years of President Trump’s tenure and Republican control over both chambers of Congress, and all three have taken place in 2018.
“We’re going to have a shutdown,” President Trump said in a video recording made released by the White House as it became clear negotiations were not leading anywhere and the Congress decided late evening there will be no vote on Friday.
“There’s nothing we can do about that because we need the Democrats to give us their votes. . . . Let’s be bipartisan, and let’s get it done. The shutdown hopefully will not last long.”
The president has sought $5.7 billion to build 215 miles of wall like border structure — which he is now saying will be made of steel-slats, a picture of which he tweeted Friday — to sign the spending bill to fund the part of the federal government impacted by the shutdown.
Democrats have declined to pass any such measure and told the president in a dramatic meeting broadcast live from the White House recently that if he forced a shutdown, he will own it and will be responsible for it, which, Trump conceded, in a tactical lapse, that he has been trying to wriggle out of since.
Faced with dimming prospects of getting the money, the White House indicated the president could be willing to sign a spending bill without it in the interest of keeping the government funded. But then he buckled to furious pushback from his support, specially some right-wing commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter.
“It is now crystal clear that one of two things is true: Either Trump never intended to build the wall and was scamming voters all along, or he has no idea how to get it done and zero interest in finding out,” Coulter wrote in scathing column headlined, “Gutless president in a wall-less country.”
Trump unfollowed Coulter on Twitter in predictable pique, but got the message. And is now standing firm on his border wall funding. This is his last chance as he has no chance of getting the money when Democrats take over the House of Representatives in January
