Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Shutdown Goes on as Trump Offer Doesn’t Budge Democrats
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
January 21, 2019

Share

WASHINGTON — Thirty-one days into the partial government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans appeared no closer to ending the impasse than when it began, with President Donald Trump lashing out at his opponents after they dismissed a plan he’d billed as a compromise.

“No, Amnesty is not a part of my offer. Amnesty will be used only on a much bigger deal, whether on immigration or something else.” — President Donald Trump tweet
Trump on Sunday branded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a “radical” and said she was acting “irrationally.” The president also tried to fend off criticism from the right, as conservatives accused him of embracing “amnesty” for immigrants in the country illegally.
Trump offered on Saturday to temporarily extend protections for young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children and those fleeing disaster zones in exchange for $5.7 billion for his border wall. But Democrats said the three-year proposal didn’t go nearly far enough.
“No, Amnesty is not a part of my offer,” Trump tweeted Sunday, noting that he’d offered temporary, three-year extensions — not permanent relief. But he added: “Amnesty will be used only on a much bigger deal, whether on immigration or something else.”
The criticism from both sides underscored Trump’s boxed in-position as he tries to win at least some Democratic buy-in without alienating his base.

Workers Face Another Federal Pay Period Without Paychecks

With hundreds of thousands of federal workers set to face another federal pay period without paychecks, the issue passed to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to bring Trump’s proposal to the floor this week.
Democrats say there’s little chance the measure will reach the 60-vote threshold usually required to advance legislation in the Senate. Republicans have a 53-47 majority, which means they need at least some Democrats to vote in favor.
McConnell has long tried to avoid votes on legislation that is unlikely to become law. And the Kentucky Republican has said for weeks that he has no interest in “show votes” aimed only at forcing members to take sides after Trump rejected the Senate’s earlier bipartisan bill to avert the shutdown.
What’s unclear is how McConnell will bring Trump’s plan forward — or when voting will begin. The Republican leader is a well-known architect of complicated legislative maneuvers. One question is whether he would allow a broader immigration debate with amendments to Trump’s plan on the Senate floor.
McConnell spokesman David Popp said Sunday, “When we have (a plan) we will be sure to let everyone know.”
One key Republican, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, said that he and other lawmakers had been encouraging the White House to put an offer on the table — any offer — to get both sides talking.
“Get something out there the president can say, ‘I can support this,’ and it has elements from both sides, put it on the table, then open it up for debate,” Lankford said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Democrats Continue to Say That They Will Not Negotiate

“The vote this week in the Senate is not to pass the bill, it is to open up and say ‘Can we debate this? Can we amend it? Can we make changes?'” Lankford said. “Let’s find a way to be able to get the government open because there are elements in this that are clearly elements that have been supported by Democrats strongly in the past.”

“The starting point of this negotiation ought to be reopening the government. We cannot reward the kind of behavior of hostage taking. Because if the president can arbitrarily shut down the government now, he will do it time and again.” — Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.)
“The president really wants to come to an agreement here. He has put offers on the table,” said Rep Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” ”The responsible thing for the Democrats to do is put a counteroffer on the table if you don’t like this one.”
Vice President Mike Pence said on “Fox News Sunday” that Trump had “set the table for a deal that will address the crisis on our border, secure our border and give us a pathway” to reopen the government.
Democrats, however, continue to say that they will not negotiate with Trump until he ends the shutdown, the longest in American history.
“The starting point of this negotiation ought to be reopening the government,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told NBC. “We cannot reward the kind of behavior of hostage taking. Because if the president can arbitrarily shut down the government now, he will do it time and again.”
As news media reported the outline of Trump’s proposal ahead of his Saturday speech, Pelosi and other Democrats made clear the president’s plan was a non-starter — a quick reaction Trump took issue with Sunday.

Trump Also Lashed out at Pelosi Personally

“Nancy Pelosi and some of the Democrats turned down my offer yesterday before I even got up to speak. They don’t see crime & drugs, they only see 2020,” he said in first of a flurry of morning tweets.
Trump also lashed out at Pelosi personally — something he had refrained from early on — and accused her, without evidence, of having “behaved so irrationally” and moving “so far to the left that she has now officially become a Radical Democrat.”
He also appeared to threaten to target millions of people living in the country illegally if he doesn’t eventually get his way, writing that “there will be no big push to remove the 11,000,000 plus people who are here illegally-but be careful Nancy!”
Pelosi responded with a tweet of her own, urging Trump to “Re-open the government, let workers get their paychecks and then we can discuss how we can come together to protect the border.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also dug in during an appearance in New York, where he predicted Democrats would block the president’s proposal from passing the Senate.
“If he opens the government, we’ll discuss whatever he offers, but hostage-taking should not work,” Schumer said as he pushed legislation that would protect government workers who can’t pay their bills because of the government shutdown. “It’s very hard to negotiate when a gun is held to your head.”

DON'T MISS

This Is Why Banana Ball Drew 31,000 for the Series in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Harper Homers, Wheeler Strikes out 11 as Phillies Complete Sweep of Reeling Giants

DON'T MISS

Liberal Icon Bernie Sanders Is Running for Senate Reelection, Squelching Retirement Rumors

DON'T MISS

Thief Uses Sleight of Hand to Swipe $255K Tiffany Ring, Cops Say

DON'T MISS

California Reports the First Increase in Groundwater Supplies in 4 Years

DON'T MISS

Fresno Charter School Wants to Increase Enrollment. But Are Its Students Lagging Their Peers?

DON'T MISS

Lawsuit Alleges Decades of Child Sex Abuse at Illinois Juvenile Detention Centers Statewide

DON'T MISS

Texas Soldier Arrested in Russia on Theft Charges After Unexpected Detour

DON'T MISS

Fresno Detectives Arrest Motorcycle Club Leader on Arson, Gun Charges

DON'T MISS

Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism Awarded to The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP and Others

UP NEXT

Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism Awarded to The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP and Others

UP NEXT

A Subset of Alzheimer’s May Be Caused by Two Copies of a Single Gene: New Research

UP NEXT

Liar, Liar: Potential Trump VP Pick Noem’s Claims Are on Fire

UP NEXT

Merced’s Treacherous ‘Tunnel Lane’ Removed from Northbound Highway 99

UP NEXT

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

UP NEXT

Another State Department Official Resigns Over Biden’s Gaza Policy

UP NEXT

Senators Want Limits on Government’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology for Airport Screening

UP NEXT

Biden Says ‘Order Must Prevail’ on Campuses, but He Won’t Send National Guard

UP NEXT

Police Dismantle UCLA Tent Camp, Take Pro-Palestinian Protesters Into Custody

UP NEXT

Fresno State’s Randa Jarrar Dragged Out of Event Featuring Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik

Thief Uses Sleight of Hand to Swipe $255K Tiffany Ring, Cops Say

14 hours ago

California Reports the First Increase in Groundwater Supplies in 4 Years

15 hours ago

Fresno Charter School Wants to Increase Enrollment. But Are Its Students Lagging Their Peers?

15 hours ago

Lawsuit Alleges Decades of Child Sex Abuse at Illinois Juvenile Detention Centers Statewide

15 hours ago

Texas Soldier Arrested in Russia on Theft Charges After Unexpected Detour

16 hours ago

Fresno Detectives Arrest Motorcycle Club Leader on Arson, Gun Charges

16 hours ago

Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism Awarded to The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP and Others

16 hours ago

Hamas Accepts Gaza Cease-Fire; Israel Launches Strikes in Rafah

17 hours ago

Tom Brady’s Netflix Roast Features Lots of Jabs and a Belichick-Kraft Reunion

17 hours ago

CA Limits How Police Respond to Protests. Why Were Bean Bag Shotguns Used at UCLA?

17 hours ago

This Is Why Banana Ball Drew 31,000 for the Series in Fresno

If you’re unaware of the Savannah Banana phenomenon, you must be actively avoiding social media, as the team and their rivals, the Par...

13 hours ago

13 hours ago

This Is Why Banana Ball Drew 31,000 for the Series in Fresno

14 hours ago

Harper Homers, Wheeler Strikes out 11 as Phillies Complete Sweep of Reeling Giants

14 hours ago

Liberal Icon Bernie Sanders Is Running for Senate Reelection, Squelching Retirement Rumors

14 hours ago

Thief Uses Sleight of Hand to Swipe $255K Tiffany Ring, Cops Say

15 hours ago

California Reports the First Increase in Groundwater Supplies in 4 Years

15 hours ago

Fresno Charter School Wants to Increase Enrollment. But Are Its Students Lagging Their Peers?

15 hours ago

Lawsuit Alleges Decades of Child Sex Abuse at Illinois Juvenile Detention Centers Statewide

16 hours ago

Texas Soldier Arrested in Russia on Theft Charges After Unexpected Detour

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend