Negotiations crumble as shutdown enters day 17
By Jonathan Easley and Alexis Simendinger - 01/07/19 06:32 AM EST
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The partial shutdown that has impacted a quarter of the government and some 800,000 federal employees is now 17 days old, with no end in sight.
Vice President Pence spent the weekend negotiating with staffers for congressional Democratic leaders, but there was no breakthrough.
President Trump is refusing to budge from his demand that Congress include $5.7 billion for a border wall in any spending package it sends him. The president and his team seem focused on finding a way around Congress by using emergency powers to redirect money for the wall, which would be challenged in court immediately. Trump has made conflicting remarks over the course of the negotiations, sowing confusion about whether he’d be willing to compromise.
The New York Times: Trump offers a “steel barrier,†but Democrats are unmoved.
more
https://thehill.com/homenews/morning-report/424111-the-hills-morning-report
