President Trump says he will shut down the government until there is money to build the border wall
The US president is determined to demand federal funding for the border wall, but negotiations with Democrats remain deadlocked.
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US President Donald Trump chaired a discussion in Washington on December 18. Photo:AFP. |
"I can't say when the government will open, but it won't happen until we have a wall or a fence,"CNNquoted US President Donald Trump saying yesterday.
The US government has been partially shut down since midnight on December 22 after the Senate refused to pass a new spending bill, which included the $5 billion Trump requested to build a wall along the border with Mexico. Negotiations between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration on the budget plan have yet to produce any agreement.
The shutdown will last at least until December 27, when the Senate returns. However, the parties appear determined to maintain their opposing positions, leaving parts of the government likely to remain shut until the first week of January, when new lawmakers are elected to Congress and Democrats take control of the House.
Trump stressed that he had just approved funding for 115 miles of border wall, but the White House has not provided any further information on this statement. "Hopefully it will be built quickly. I'll be there at the end of January to start. It's a long wall," Trump said, adding that it was a "breakthrough."
Trump warned Democrats that oversight of his administration would amount to "trouble for the president." The White House boss also claimed that federal employees who are on leave or working without pay understand the need for the border wall and support him in this mission.
"Many of my staff told me to hold out until we get the funding for the wall. They want the wall. The only people who don't want it are the Democrats because they don't mind open borders. But open borders mean a flood of criminals," Trump said.
Three-quarters of the US government is funded through September 30, including programs in the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor. However, funding for the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Agriculture has expired. This has delayed pay for nearly 800,000 federal employees and forced about 380,000 of them to be furloughed.
