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| Government |
| Talks start as Senate rejects 2 plans for ending shutdown |
| 2019-01-25 |
| WASHINGTON (AP) ‐ A splintered Senate voted down competing Democratic and Republican plans for ending the 35-day partial government shutdown, but the twin setbacks prompted a burst of bipartisan talks aimed at temporarily halting the longest-ever closure of federal agencies and the damage it’s inflicting around the country. In the first serious exchange in weeks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., quickly called Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to his office Thursday to explore potential next steps for solving the vitriolic stalemate. Senators from both sides floated a plan to reopen agencies for three weeks and pay hundreds of thousands of beleaguered federal workers while bargainers hunt for a deal. At the White House, President Donald Trump told reporters he’d support "a reasonable agreement." He suggested he’d also want a "prorated down payment" for his long-sought border wall with Mexico but didn’t describe the term. He said he has "other alternatives" for getting wall funding, an apparent reference to his disputed claim that he could declare a national emergency and fund the wall’s construction using other programs in the federal budget. "At least we’re talking about it. That’s better than it was before," McConnell told reporters in one of the most encouraging statements heard since the shutdown began Dec. 22. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |