Senate rejects rival plans for ending US govt shutdown, talks start
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 a deal
President Donald Trump told reporters he’d support “a reasonable agreement”
WASHINGTON: A splintered Senate swatted down competing Democratic and
Republican plans for ending the 34-day partial government shutdown on
Thursday, 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 talks in weeks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell quickly called Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to his office 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 a deal.
At the White House, President Donald Trump told reporters he’d support
“a reasonable agreement.” He suggested he’d also want a “pro-rated down
payment” for his long-sought border wall with Mexico, a term he didn’t
describe and which drew opposition from Democrats. 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 its
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.
It was initially unclear whether the flurry would produce results. House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose relationship with Trump seems to have
soured daily, told reporters a “big” down payment would not be “a
reasonable agreement.” Asked if she knew how much money Trump meant,
Pelosi said, “I don’t know if he knows what he’s talking about.”
Contributing to the pressure on lawmakers was the harsh reality
confronting 800,000 federal workers, who on Friday face a second
two-week payday with no paychecks.
Underscoring the strains, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, angrily said
on the Senate floor that Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, had forced a 2013
shutdown during which “people were killed” in Colorado from flooding and
shuttered federal agencies couldn’t help local emergency workers.
Moments earlier, Cruz accused Democrats of blocking a separate, doomed
bill to pay Coast Guard personnel during this shutdown to score
political points, adding later, “Just because you hate somebody doesn’t
mean you should shut the government down.”
Thursday’s votes came after Vice President Mike Pence lunched privately
with Republican senators, who told him they were itching for the
standoff to end, participants said. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, said
their message to Pence was, “Find a way forward.”
In an embarrassment to Trump, the Democratic proposal got two more votes
Thursday than the GOP plan, even though Republicans control the chamber
53-47. Six Republicans backed the Democratic plan including freshman
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who’s clashed periodically with the president.
The Senate first rejected a Republican plan reopening government through
September and giving Trump the $5.7 billion he’s demanded for building
segments of that wall, a project that he’d long promised Mexico would
finance. The 50-47 vote for the measure fell 10 shy of the 60 votes
needed to succeed.
Minutes later, senators voted 52-44 for a Democratic alternative that
sought to open padlocked agencies through Feb. 8 with no wall money.
That was eight votes short. It was aimed at giving bargainers time to
seek an accord while getting paychecks to government workers who are
either working without pay or being forced to stay home.
Flustered lawmakers said Thursday’s roll calls could be a reality check
that would prod the start of talks. Throughout, the two sides have
issued mutually exclusive demands that have blocked negotiations from
even starting: Trump has refused to reopen government until Congress
gives him the wall money, and congressional Democrats have rejected
bargaining until he reopens government.
Thursday’s votes could “teach us that the leaders are going to have to
get together and figure out how to resolve this,” said Sen. John Thune
of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader. He added, “One way or
another we’ve got to get out of this. This is no win for anybody.”
Initially, partisan potshots flowed freely.
Pelosi accused Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross of a “’let them eat cake’
kind of attitude” after he said on television that he didn’t understand
why unpaid civil servants were resorting to homeless shelters for food.
Even as Pelosi offered to meet the president “anytime,” Trump stood
firm, tweeting, “Without a Wall it all doesn’t work.... We will not
Cave!“
As the Senate debated the two dueling proposals, McConnell said the
Democratic plan would let that party’s lawmakers “make political points
and nothing else” because Trump wouldn’t sign it. He called Pelosi’s
opposition “unreasonable” and said, “Senate Democrats are not obligated
to go down with her ship.”
Schumer criticized the GOP plan for endorsing Trump’s proposal to keep the government closed until he gets what he wants.
“A vote for the president’s plan is an endorsement of government by
extortion,” Schumer said. “If we let him do it today, he’ll do it
tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.’
McConnell’s engagement was viewed as a constructive sign because has a
history of helping resolve past partisan standoffs. For weeks, he’d let
Trump and Democrats try reaching an accord and, until Thursday, had
barred any votes on legislation Trump would not sign.
In consultation with their Senate counterparts, House Democrats were
preparing a new border security package that might be rolled out Friday.
Despite their pledge to not negotiate until agencies reopened, their
forthcoming proposal was essentially a counteroffer to Trump. Pelosi
expressed “some optimism that things could break loose pretty soon” in a
closed-door meeting with other Democrats Wednesday evening, said Rep.
John Yarmuth, D-Kentucky
The Democratic package was expected to include $5.7 billion, the same
amount Trump wants for his wall, but use it instead for fencing,
technology, personnel and other measures. In a plan the rejected Senate
GOP plan mirrored, Trump on Saturday proposed to reopen government if he
got his wall money. He also proposed to revamp immigration laws,
including new restrictions on Central American minors seeking asylum in
the US and temporary protections for immigrants who entered the country
illegally as children.
At a panel discussion held by House Democrats on the effects of the
shutdown, union leaders and former Homeland Security officials said they
worried about the long-term effects.
“We will be lucky to get everybody back on the job without a crisis to
respond to,” said Tim Manning, a former Federal Emergency Management
Agency official.
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