Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk: President Donald Trump had a message Tuesday for Democrats hoping he’ll relent in the political arm wrestling that has seen funds blocked to parts of the government for a record 32 days: “No Cave!”
Trump’s defiant tweet again blamed congressional Democrats for the chaos, insisting he will not lift his shutdown on federal government funding unless they approve his $5.7 billion plan for more walls along the US-Mexican border.
“Without a Wall our Country can never have Border or National Security. With a powerful Wall or Steel Barrier, Crime Rates (and Drugs) will go substantially down all over the U.S.,” Trump tweeted.
“The Dems know this but want to play political games.”
Trump triggered a partial government shutdown on December 22 — refusing to sign off on funding everything from FBI salaries to the National Park Service — as a way of pressuring the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives to back the wall project.
But with Democrats refusing to give in and Trump sticking to his hardball tactics.
The Senate is set to vote on two bills this week that would in theory break the deadlock, even if both have little chance of passing.
The first is on Trump’s compromise offer made Saturday, when he told Democrats he would extend temporary protection to about a million immigrants currently risking deportation if he gets his wall funding.
Pelosi sent out a rejection before Trump had even officially laid out his proposal. The president also caught backlash from the right wing of his own party, which accused him of wanting to give amnesty to large numbers of people living in the country illegally.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that a vote on Trump’s plan would take place this week, saying the chance to end the shutdown is “staring us in the face.”
However, the bill looks doomed, with the senior Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, describing the Trump offer as “going nowhere fast.”
The Senate was also expected to reject a second, Democrat-backed bill to restart funding for the government. Even if it did get through Congress, “the president won’t sign it,” a senior Senate Republican aide said.
Both votes are expected today.
Meanwhile, dozens of federal employees have been lining up in Brooklyn for basics. Customs, tax and emergency management officials are all among the crowd, having gone unemployed since December 22.
Others deemed “essential” like transportation workers or prison guards are forced to continue working without pay, taking advantage of their lunch breaks to stock up.
Volunteers are manning distribution tables in the lobby of the New York borough’s Barclays Center, which usually hosts concerts or sporting events rather than charity drives.
Those in need first register and then fill plastic bags with canned goods, potatoes, chicken, grapes and basic toiletries.
