Congress Struggles to End Partial Government Shutdown Over Border Wall Funding
With no end in sight to the partial government shutdown, Congress faces mounting pressure to find a compromise on border wall funding and pass a budget to reopen key agencies.
Washington - As the partial government shutdown entered its third week, Congress remained deadlocked over President Trump's demands for $5 billion in funding for a border wall, prolonging the impasse and leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay.
Senate Republican leaders had hoped to hold a vote on Thursday to pass a short-term spending bill that would have kept the government open through early February, but they abruptly pulled the measure after it became clear it would not have enough support to overcome a Democratic filibuster. The decision was a setback for efforts to end the standoff, which has shuttered a quarter of the federal government since Dec. 22.
Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, had been working with the White House to craft a proposal that could pass both chambers of Congress, but he acknowledged on the Senate floor that the bill did not yet have the votes needed to advance. Democrats have refused to provide the wall funding that Mr. Trump has demanded, and they have criticized Republicans for failing to put forward a plan that could actually become law.
{{IMAGE_PLACEHOLDER}}Source: The New York Times
