There's a flurry of movement to end the shutdown on both sides of the Capitol, but no signs that either President Donald Trump or GOP and Democratic leaders are budging enough to end the standstill now on its 32nd day.
A group of centrist House Democrats, sick of political posturing, is pressing Speaker Nancy Pelosi to counter Trump’s immigration proposal with her own potential compromise. The group, led by freshman Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia, is asking the California Democrat to offer Trump a vote on his border wall or some sort of negotiated security package in February if he first signs a bill reopening the federal government, according to a draft of the letter obtained by POLITICO.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) forged a deal to allow votes on the president's proposal, which would provide $5.7 billion for his wall and temporary protections for some undocumented immigrants, as well as a stopgap bill pushed by Democrats to fund the government until mid-February. But those plans would require 60 votes in the narrowly divided Senate, and each seems unlikely to pass. The Senate passed such a stopgap bill in December, but that was before Trump came out in opposition. Now the president would almost certainly need to endorse such a measure for it to get 60 votes.
Taken together, the moves demonstrate a renewed sense of urgency to get out of the impasse as a second missed paycheck for about 800,000 federal workers looms later this week. But neither side has moved off the central point separating them: Trump doesn't want to end the shutdown until he has funding for the border wall, and Democrats don't want to negotiate until the government is reopened.
"We're in a funny place. I don't think the president wants to end this shutdown unless he's sure his proposal will be taken seriously. And we can't take his proposal seriously until the shutdown's over," Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said.
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04.24.2024