House OK's Spending Bills to Reopen Government, But Shutdown Expected to Continue
Michael Collins and David Jackson
USA TODAY
9:58 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019
With the partial government shutdown stretching into 2019, here's what you need to know about the effects. USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – The newly minted House Democratic majority pushed through a series of spending bills on Thursday to reopen the federal government, but congressional Republicans dismissed the effort as pointless political theater and the White House threatened a presidential veto as a partial government shutdown neared its third week.
Just hours after Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi reclaimed the speaker’s gavel and Democrats returned to the power for the first time in eight years, the House sought to end the 13-day shutdown by voting 241-190 to fund eight of the nine shuttered departments.
The legislation would fund all eight departments for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. It passed largely along party lines, with seven Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the bill.
The House also voted 239-192, again mostly along party lines, to fund the Department of Homeland Security at current spending levels through Feb. 8. Five Republicans backed the legislation.
The legislation includes $1.3 billion for border security but none of the funding that President Donald Trump is demanding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The temporary funding would enable the department to reopen and buy more time for Congress and the White House to resolve their standoff over border wall funding.
The spending package is part of a strategy by Democrats to put pressure on Trump and congressional Republicans as the impact of the shutdown becomes more pronounced across much of the country.
“Let’s open the government, and let’s get to work,” said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee.
But Trump and GOP lawmakers showed no signs of retreating.
The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement suggesting Trump would veto the bill if it lands on his desk.
“The administration is committed to working with the Congress to reopen lapsed agencies but cannot accept legislation that provides unnecessary funding for wasteful programs while ignoring the nation’s urgent border security needs,” the statement said.
At the White House, Trump made a surprise appearance in the press briefing room a few hours before the vote to make his case for additional border security funding. Flanked by border agents, the president claimed that he has "never had as much support" as he has for his stance on his proposed border wall.
"We need protection for our country," Trump told reporters. "Without a wall, you cannot have border security."
Trump referenced a tweet he wrote hours earlier featuring a video of migrants rushing the border and told the agents, members of the National Border Patrol Council, that "you've done a fantastic job."
Trump also took to Twitter early Thursday and accused Democrats of playing politics with the shutdown.
"The Shutdown is only because of the 2020 Presidential Election," he wrote. "The Democrats know they can’t win based on all of the achievements of 'Trump,' so they are going all out on the desperately needed Wall and Border Security."
In the GOP-controlled Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned again that he would not call for a vote on any proposal that doesn’t have “a real chance” of passing and getting a presidential signature. The Senate previously approved a bill to fund the government through Feb. 8, but that plan died when Trump said he would not sign it.
McConnell dismissed the Democratic bills as “not a serious attempt” to end the budget standoff. “I would call it political theater, not productive lawmaking,” he said.
Meanwhile, the White House has invited congressional leaders to a meeting Friday morning to continue talks about ending the shutdown.
Nine federal departments and several smaller agencies – representing a quarter of the federal government – shut down Dec. 22 when their funding lapsed and congressional Democrats and the White House failed to strike a deal to keep them open.The shutdown forced some 800,000 federal employees to go on furlough or work without paying.
The sticking point has been Trump’s insistence on $5 billion in funding for a border wall, even though he promised repeatedly during his presidential campaign that he’d make Mexico pay for the structure.
In a last-ditch effort to keep the government open, the House voted in late December, largely along party lines, to give Trump $5.7 billion for the wall in one of the GOP majority’s final acts. That measure never got a vote in the Senate, guaranteeing the shutdown would begin two days later.
The shutdown’s impact is starting to become more visible in many places after the holidays, when most government offices were already scheduled to be closed.
In Washington, the Smithsonian Institution closed 19 museums and the National Zoo on Wednesday because of a lack of funds. The Smithsonian had been able to remain open through Jan. 1 by using the previous year's funding.
Some national parks reported human feces, overflowing garbage, illegal off-roading and other damaging behavior. The shutdown forced furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal employees, leaving many parks without most of the rangers and others who staff campgrounds and otherwise keep parks running. Joshua Tree National Park in California closed its campgrounds after the loss of sanitation workers resulted in overflowing toilets.
It's unknown when the thousands of federal workers who have been placed on furlough or forced to work without pay will see their next paycheck. In the past, including the 16-day shutdown in 2013, federal workers received back pay. There’s no guarantee that will happen this time because Congress and the White House would have to work together to pass a law mandating the back pay.
Contributing: John Fritze, USA TODAY; Calley Cederlof, Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY
9:58 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019
With the partial government shutdown stretching into 2019, here's what you need to know about the effects. USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – The newly minted House Democratic majority pushed through a series of spending bills on Thursday to reopen the federal government, but congressional Republicans dismissed the effort as pointless political theater and the White House threatened a presidential veto as a partial government shutdown neared its third week.
Just hours after Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi reclaimed the speaker’s gavel and Democrats returned to the power for the first time in eight years, the House sought to end the 13-day shutdown by voting 241-190 to fund eight of the nine shuttered departments.
The legislation would fund all eight departments for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. It passed largely along party lines, with seven Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the bill.
The House also voted 239-192, again mostly along party lines, to fund the Department of Homeland Security at current spending levels through Feb. 8. Five Republicans backed the legislation.
The legislation includes $1.3 billion for border security but none of the funding that President Donald Trump is demanding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The temporary funding would enable the department to reopen and buy more time for Congress and the White House to resolve their standoff over border wall funding.
The spending package is part of a strategy by Democrats to put pressure on Trump and congressional Republicans as the impact of the shutdown becomes more pronounced across much of the country.
“Let’s open the government, and let’s get to work,” said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee.
But Trump and GOP lawmakers showed no signs of retreating.
The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement suggesting Trump would veto the bill if it lands on his desk.
“The administration is committed to working with the Congress to reopen lapsed agencies but cannot accept legislation that provides unnecessary funding for wasteful programs while ignoring the nation’s urgent border security needs,” the statement said.
At the White House, Trump made a surprise appearance in the press briefing room a few hours before the vote to make his case for additional border security funding. Flanked by border agents, the president claimed that he has "never had as much support" as he has for his stance on his proposed border wall.
"We need protection for our country," Trump told reporters. "Without a wall, you cannot have border security."
Trump referenced a tweet he wrote hours earlier featuring a video of migrants rushing the border and told the agents, members of the National Border Patrol Council, that "you've done a fantastic job."
Trump also took to Twitter early Thursday and accused Democrats of playing politics with the shutdown.
"The Shutdown is only because of the 2020 Presidential Election," he wrote. "The Democrats know they can’t win based on all of the achievements of 'Trump,' so they are going all out on the desperately needed Wall and Border Security."
In the GOP-controlled Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned again that he would not call for a vote on any proposal that doesn’t have “a real chance” of passing and getting a presidential signature. The Senate previously approved a bill to fund the government through Feb. 8, but that plan died when Trump said he would not sign it.
McConnell dismissed the Democratic bills as “not a serious attempt” to end the budget standoff. “I would call it political theater, not productive lawmaking,” he said.
Meanwhile, the White House has invited congressional leaders to a meeting Friday morning to continue talks about ending the shutdown.
Nine federal departments and several smaller agencies – representing a quarter of the federal government – shut down Dec. 22 when their funding lapsed and congressional Democrats and the White House failed to strike a deal to keep them open.The shutdown forced some 800,000 federal employees to go on furlough or work without paying.
The sticking point has been Trump’s insistence on $5 billion in funding for a border wall, even though he promised repeatedly during his presidential campaign that he’d make Mexico pay for the structure.
In a last-ditch effort to keep the government open, the House voted in late December, largely along party lines, to give Trump $5.7 billion for the wall in one of the GOP majority’s final acts. That measure never got a vote in the Senate, guaranteeing the shutdown would begin two days later.
The shutdown’s impact is starting to become more visible in many places after the holidays, when most government offices were already scheduled to be closed.
In Washington, the Smithsonian Institution closed 19 museums and the National Zoo on Wednesday because of a lack of funds. The Smithsonian had been able to remain open through Jan. 1 by using the previous year's funding.
Some national parks reported human feces, overflowing garbage, illegal off-roading and other damaging behavior. The shutdown forced furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal employees, leaving many parks without most of the rangers and others who staff campgrounds and otherwise keep parks running. Joshua Tree National Park in California closed its campgrounds after the loss of sanitation workers resulted in overflowing toilets.
It's unknown when the thousands of federal workers who have been placed on furlough or forced to work without pay will see their next paycheck. In the past, including the 16-day shutdown in 2013, federal workers received back pay. There’s no guarantee that will happen this time because Congress and the White House would have to work together to pass a law mandating the back pay.
Contributing: John Fritze, USA TODAY; Calley Cederlof, Visalia Times-Delta
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