US govt lurches to shutdown as Trump, Democrats spar over wall

WASHINGTON, United States — Donald Trump and congressional Democrats stood at stark odds Thursday as the president balked at a spending stopgap that contains no border wall funding, leaving the US government on the verge of a Christmastime shutdown.

The unpredictable leader's rejection of a measure that unanimously passed the Senate and was under consideration in the House plunged Washington into political chaos barely 24 hours before a midnight Friday deadline for funding to expire for key agencies.

Trump appeared to harden his demand for $5 billion in funding for the wall on the US-Mexico border, something he has fought for since he began campaigning for president in 2015.


Republican leaders had planned to pass a so-called continuing resolution (CR) that would fully fund the government until February 8 to allow time for debate about issues including border security.

But with ultra-conservative lawmakers and media personalities effectively demanding that the president stick to his campaign promises, Trump doubled down.

"I've made my position very clear. Any measure that funds the government has to include border security," he said at a White House event.

"Walls work, whether we like it or not," he added. "They work better than anything."

Democrats have refused to budge, saying they will not support a spending measure that funds Trump's wall.

"That's a non-starter," said top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi. "I think they know that."

Republicans nevertheless soldiered on, crafting a new measure that would appease the president's demands. It includes $5.7 billion in border wall funding, and $7.8 billion in disaster relief.

The bill passed the House, but with no Democratic support.

"Thank you to our GREAT Republican Members of Congress for your VOTE to fund Border Security and the Wall," Trump tweeted Thursday night.

"The final numbers were 217-185 and many have said that the enthusiasm was greater than they have ever seen before. So proud of you all. Now on to the Senate!"

But the bill will be dead on arrival in the 100-member Senate, where bills need 60 votes to advance and Republicans control 51 seats.

Trump also taunted Pelosi over comments she made last week that Republicans would not have the necessary votes in the House of Representatives.

"Nancy does not have to apologize," he said. "All I want is GREAT BORDER SECURITY!"

Senate Democrats were united in opposition as the likely Friday showdown in that chamber loomed. Many senators from both parties have already left Washington for the holidays.

"President Trump is plunging the country into chaos," warned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, citing shutdown fears, fresh economic woes, and the shock revelation that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, a stabilizing force in Trump's administration, was stepping down.

"The bottom line is simple," he added. "The Trump temper tantrum may produce a government shutdown. It will not get him his wall."

- 'Meltdown' -

Fears of a shutdown -- which could send thousands of federal employees home without pay just before Christmas -- helped send US stocks tumbling, with the Dow closing down 2.0 percent.

Trump had backed off his shutdown threat earlier this week, but it roared back to life as he accused Democrats of "putting politics over country" by not supporting a wall, which he insists will curb illegal immigration.

His move may have been influenced by members of the House Freedom caucus, some of whom have publicly called on the Republican president to stick to his guns on wall funding.

"Mr. President, we'll back you up," caucus chairman Mark Meadows said on the House floor late Wednesday. "If you veto this bill (with no wall funding), we'll be there."

With conditions fluid on Capitol Hill, it appeared that a retreat by Trump was the only path to averting a shutdown.

However, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders suggested that was unlikely.

"We urgently need funding for border security and that includes a wall," she said.

Pelosi, the likely new speaker of the House when Democrats reclaim the majority on January 3, accused Republicans of having a "meltdown" over whether to pass the stopgap measure or force a shutdown.

The news of Trump's rejection caught many Republican lawmakers flat-footed.

Senator Roy Blunt said worry is likely to set in on Friday.

"It's hard to come up with politics that are worse than shutdown politics," he told Politico. "Unless it's shutdown at Christmas politics."

The US government endured two brief shutdowns in early 2018. A far more crippling shutdown in 2013 lasted 16 days, with about 800,000 federal workers furloughed amid a fight over funding Barack Obama's healthcare reforms.

source: philstar.com

First school shooting victims buried

Townspeople in Newtown, Conn., Monday began burying the 26 victims of last week's massacre at an elementary school -- two 6-year-old boys.

One eulogizer at Jack Pinto's funeral said the boy commanded attention as soon as he "arrived into this world," The New York Times reported.

"Who could ignore that beautiful energy, the sparkle in his eye, or that spirit that clearly said, 'I am here and I am something special'?" asked Mary Radatovich, a family friend.

Pinto and Noah Pozner were the first of the funerals for the victims of the slaughter inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in which 20 children and six adults died, before shooter Adam Lanza killed himself Friday. Police said Lanza also killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at the home they shared before he went to the school.

Police on Sunday officially confirmed Lanza, 20, was the killer in all 27 deaths before he shot himself.



Also Monday, investigators said it could be months before a complete account of the events up to and during the shooting spree on the school is available.

Connecticut State Police spokesman J. Paul Vance said investigators still had to talk to many witnesses, including two adults who wounded during the shooting at the school, as well as analyze the ammunition and details of the weapons.

When asked about reports that authorities were analyzing a computer hard drive taken from Lanza's home, Vance declined to comment, but said computer specialists were available if investigators needed them, the Times said.

Police said most of the shots Lanza fired were from a .223 Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle. Lanza had a 10-millimeter Glock and a 9-millimeter Sig Sauer. A shotgun was found in the car.

The guns were legally bought and registered by Lanza's mother, who sometimes took her son shooting ranges, law enforcement officials and the mother's friends said.

Because the school has been seized as a crime scene, Sandy Hook students will attend school at another facility in a nearby community, police said. It was unclear when, or if, the building would reopen.

Authorities also seized the Lanzas' home.

Vance said Monday the faculty and staff at Sandy Hook did all they could to protect the children, and that the emergency responders' arrival also saved lives.

"It broke our hearts when we could not save them all," he said.

At the White House, press secretary Jay Carney said Monday there is no single answer to the complex issue of gun violence.


"It's a complex problem that will require a complex solution. No single piece of legislation, no single action will fully address the problem," Carney said, repeating the gist of Obama's comments on the matter. "So I don't have a specific agenda to announce to you today. I would simply point you to what the president said last night about moving forward in coming weeks. And I would look for him to do that."

Repeatedly saying he had no specific policy outline, Carney said Obama supports reinstating the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.

"I think that it's important to remember that this is about our gun laws and enforcing them, but it's also about a broader series of issues, including issues of mental health and education and -- and the like," Carney said.

"So the president's position on the assault weapons ban has not changed. He still supports its re-enactment," the spokesman said. "But, you know, you'll hear from him, I think, as he said last night, in the coming weeks to -- to speak more specifically about what he thinks we can do moving forward."

In Newtown, all schools in the district were to resume classes Tuesday except for Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Meanwhile, school buses brought students to Branchville Elementary School in Ridgefield, Conn., after police declared the school safe following a report of a man carrying what appeared to be a rifle along a road near the elementary school, The Ridgefield Press reported.

A modified lockdown at other schools in the area was lifted as well.

The Press said unconfirmed reports later indicated the man was going to work with an umbrella slung over his shoulder.

During a multifaith memorial service Sunday at Newtown High School, President Obama vowed to "use whatever power this office holds" to stop massacres like the one in the Connecticut community.

"No single law, no set of laws, can eliminate evil from the world -- but that can't be an excuse for inaction," Obama said. "Surely, we can do better than this."

source: upi.com