The White House and Democratic congressional leaders are at an impasse over negotiations to avoid a partial shutdown of the federal government at the end of the week, with both sides unwilling to budge from their positions on U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, the Washington Post reported.
Trump has demanded $5 billion to partially pay for a wall along the Mexican border. Congressional Democrats have rejected that request, arguing the wall is wasteful and ineffective.
Congressional Republicans had been scrambling to find an alternative that would avoid a shutdown. But the White House has signaled it wouldn’t support such a resolution, making it much more likely that spending for the government will lapse.
Despite some backing for the wall among House Republicans, it was unclear whether Trump’s plan would even have enough votes to pass the GOP-controlled chamber. And because of the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, the measure would be likely to fail there - Senate Republicans hold a 51-49 majority.
Senate Democratic leaders signaled yesterday they were not budging from their negotiating position of providing $1.3 billion for border security - and they called on Trump to yield in his demands for $5 billion for the wall.
