Six days after the partial government shutdown the Senate adjourned until Monday, increasing the possibility that parts of the government will remain closed until at least next week when lawmakers are to vote to reopen them.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise said Thursday “that no votes are expected in the House this week.”
“As the House awaits Senate action on remaining FY19 appropriations, we will aim to provide 24 hours’ notice ahead of any expected votes in the House,” Scalise’s office added in a notice.
After convening at 4 p.m., the Senate announced there would be no action in the chamber and that it was adjourning until the beginning of next week when there is to be a pro forma session on the last day of 2018.
About a quarter of the federal government closed over the weekend as Congress and President Donald Trump couldn’t reach an agreement on funding for the long-sought border wall. President Trump demanded $5 billion for the barrier, but Democrats said it was a non-starter for them.
Ever since, almost no progress has been done, with both sides blaming the other for the stalemate, The Hill reports.
“The President has made clear that any bill to fund the government must adequately fund border security to stop the flow of illegal drugs, criminals, MS-13 gang members, child smugglers and human traffickers into our communities – and protect the American people,” the White House said in a statement released after the Senate action.
The statement also said that the administration offered a reasonable solution to Democrats, but they refused to negotiate with the President and his team. “The only rational conclusion is that the Democrat party is openly choosing to keep our government closed to protect illegal immigrants rather than the American people,” the statement added.
Democrats, on the other hand, accused Trump of taking the “government hostage over his outrageous demand for a $5 billion border wall that would be both wasteful and ineffective.”
The party’s leaders have said they won’t go beyond $1.3 billion in annual funding for border fencing.
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