Donald Trump held a brief meeting with Democrats at the White House but walked out when he was denied funds to build a border wall. Democrats have undertaken a renewed attempt to reopen some parts of the government.
Image: Getty Images/A. Wong
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United States President Donald Trump walked out of talks to reopen the government with Congressional Democrats on Wednesday, increasing the likelihood that hundreds of thousands of government workers will not receive paychecks on Friday as scheduled.
On the 19th day of a government shutdown, caused by a dispute over funding for a border wall between the US and Mexico, Trump met briefly Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in the situation room of the White House. The US president called the meeting "a total waste of time" in a tweet shortly afterwards.
Schumer accused the president of a "temper tantrum," telling reporters in Washington that the meeting broke when he and Pelosi refused to commit funding for the border wall. Trump then slammed his hand on the table and walked out, according to Schumer.
"This is sad and unfortunate. We want to come to an agreement. We believe in border security. We have different views," Schumer said.
Republicans provided a different account of the meeting, saying Trump passed out candy at the start of the meeting, did not raise his voice or pound the table. Vice President Mike Pence, speaking outside of the West Wing at the White House, accused Democrats of "unwilling to even negotiate."
"The president made clear today that he is going to stand firm to achieve his priorities to build a wall — a steel barrier — at the southern border," Pence told reporters.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (left) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (right) after a meeting with President Donald TrumpImage: picture-alliance/abaca/O. Douliery
Push for partial reopening
Shortly after the meeting at the White House, the House of Representatives, the lower house of US Congress, voted to pass legislation to open some departments of government, including the Treasury, Homeland Security, Justice, State, Agriculture, Commerce and Labor.
However, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he would not put any funding bill up for a vote in Congress' upper house without Trump's backing.
Trump has insisted that the budget bill include a $5.7 billion (€4.9 billion) down payment on the wall, a barrier that he sees as absolutely necessary to stop what he calls an immigration crisis. Senate Democrats have remain steadfast in their refusal to include that provision in the bill.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump emerged from a meeting with Republicans on Capital Hill declaring he had unwavering support from his party for his tough stance on border wall funds. In the meeting, he told his fellow party members that the shutdown would last "whatever it takes."
Meanwhile, the suspension of government activities has lead to 800,000 federal workers either furloughed or working without pay. If the government shutdown does not end by Friday, many government employees will not receive their paychecks as scheduled.
On Thursday, Trump was scheduled to travel to the border to highlight what he calls a crisis of illegal immigration, drug-smuggling and human trafficking at the border.
The president has expressed his own doubts that his appearance and remarks on Thursday will change any minds.
The trip comes two days after a televised presidential address from the White House's Oval Office in which Trump said there is a "growing humanitarian and security crisis" at the US-Mexico border. He did stop short of calling a national emergency, which he has threatened to do in order to use emergency funds to bankroll the wall.
In a televised response to Trump's speech on Tuesday, Pelosi called the shutdown "senseless" and said the president was holding the country "hostage."
US government shutdowns: A chronology
President Joe Biden's government is facing a shutdown if the Republican Congress doesn't approve the budget for the coming fiscal year. DW looks at how shutdowns started, when they became partisan and how much they cost.
Image: Getty Images/D. Angerer
Sundown shutdown
As midnight approaches on September 30, it's go time for Congress: Approve a budget before the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, or shut down the government. Originally, Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution required lawmakers to approve the budget. Honing it further in 1870, the Antideficiency Act targeted agencies that spent money without asking. But deadlines were often missed.
Image: picture-alliance/CNP/A. Edelma
No money, no pay, no work
At the behest of President Jimmy Carter, the US attorney general revisited the Antideficiency Act in 1980 to answer the question: "Without a budget, are government employees required to work?" According to his Attorney General's legal opinion, no money meant no work. Carter's presidency saw only small shutdowns, but the new interpretation of the law turned shutdowns into a negotiating tactic.
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Ronald Reagan and the first shutdown
The first real shutdown — more than 240,000 workers furloughed, more than $80 million (€65 million) down the drain — occurred in November 1981. President Ronald Reagan refused to sign a budget without billions in tax cuts. The Republican-controlled Senate and the Democrat-controlled House found a solution the next day. This happened seven more times by his last year in 1989.
Image: AP
Bill Clinton and the rise of the partisan shutdown
Budget impasses were largely drama-free until 1995, when President Bill Clinton faced off against Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich (pictured left). The Republican-led Congress wanted a balanced budget within seven years, higher Medicare premiums and rollbacks on environment regulations. It took 27 days in total to strike a deal. The cost: at least $1 billion.
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A game for Congress, a headache for the agencies
Many departments such as the military, national security and any deemed essential to the protection of life continue working during shutdowns. But agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must cease operations. This results in delays on tax decisions, food inspection and disease research among other problems.
Image: picture-alliance/BSIP/B. Boissonet
Barack Obama and Congress on Cruz-control
The next major shutdown came in 2013 under President Barack Obama. His Affordable Health Care Act — or Obamacare — faced stark opposition from conservative House Republicans. Led by Senator Ted Cruz, the group pushed for drastic curbs on the health care act in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. The 18-day shutdown resulted in the furlough of some 850,000 workers. The cost: $24 billion.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Dharapak
Shutdown for a wall
The longest shutdown in US history so far lasted 35 days in December 2018 and January 2019. Hundreds of federal workers went without paychecks. Despite the disruption, then-President Donald Trump insisted that funding for his Mexico border wall be included in the budget. In fact, Trump had said he was prepared for the impasse to go on for years — before he gave in and reopened government.
Image: Doug Mills/UPI Photo/Imago Images
Cost of playing politics
The prohibitive cost of shutting down some government operations has not tamed the trend. Washington loses millions not just in revenue, but also in back pay, even though furloughed employees stay at home. So, time lost, work lost — and money lost. According to a 2019 estimate by ratings agency Standard and Poor's, a government shutdown costs the US roughly $6 billion per week.
Image: Imago
Shutdowns contributing to distrust?
The biggest loser is not the economy, or the party that makes the most concessions, it's the government itself. According to a Gallup poll in the aftermath of the 2013 shutdown, public dissatisfaction with the government in general rose to 33%. The previous all-time high regarding political dysfunction was 26% during the Watergate scandal.
