Republican senators struck down a bill that would have temporarily reopened the federal government on Thursday, falling short of the 60 votes required to defeat a GOP filibuster.
The measure would have reopened federal agencies through 8 February to allow time for negotiations, an approach Republican leadership tried last month before being undercut by Donald Trump.
The president is now refusing to reopen the government until he gets a deal on funding for his long-sought border wall.
Polls have shown that the public is blaming Mr Trump for the shutdown and his approval numbers have sunk as the impasse drags on. The partial government shutdown is now in its 34th day. Federal workers are on the verge of missing another paycheck Friday.
Democrats also blocked Mr Trump’s request for $5.7bn to construct the wall, with a partisan 50-47 vote. The $350bn government-wide funding bill represented the first attempt by Republicans controlling the Senate to reopen the government since the shutdown began.
The measure would have also provided three years of continued protection against deportation for 700,000 immigrants brought to the US illegally as children.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday she was willing to meet with the president “anytime” to discuss ending the partial government shutdown.
The California Democrat said House Democrats are putting together a new border security package that could provide a step toward a compromise. It will include money for fencing, technology, personnel and other measures, but not Mr Trump’s proposed wall.
The president responded in real time on Twitter saying, “very simply, without a Wall it all doesn’t work.... We will not Cave!”
Twin defeats might spur the two sides into a more serious effort to reach an agreement. With the impact of the shutdown becoming increasingly painful, lawmakers say they’re willing to compromise on border security and immigration policy.
Additional reporting by AP. Read below for our live coverage on the 34th day of the US government shutdown
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the 34th day of the US federal government shutdown.
US senators are to vote on two competing bills today in a bid to end the deadlock over Donald Trump's border wall.
But neither proposal is likely to bring reprieve for the 800,000 public workers who have gone without pay for more than a month. Each needs 60 votes to advance in the Senate, which is under 53-47 Republican control.
Donald Trump is to delay his State of the Union speech until after the shutdown is over, he confirmed late last night.
Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi had urged him to rearrange the address, he had been due to deliver to congress next Tuesday, as the law enforcement agencies tasked with protecting Capitol Hill are affected by the shutdown.
Trump forced to postpone State of the Union until 'the shutdown is over'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi effectively disinvited Trump from addressing Congress until an agreement to pay US federal workers can be reachedThe president is awake in and, as is his habit, has dispatched a few early-morning tweets. Some of the 800,000 federal government workers who haven't been paid in a month might have something to say about this one:
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell's decision to allow a vote on a Democratic proposal to end the shutdown is a change in tack from the Republican, who had previously blocked any vote on a bill that does not have the president's support.
The bill does not have that - it would fund the government for three weeks without providing the $5.7bn (£4.4bn) that Trump is demanding for a US-Mexico border wall.
The proposal's prospects looked dim. The Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives has passed similar bills but Trump has rejected legislation that does not include the wall funding.
But the mere fact that McConnell is willing to allow for a vote suggests he may be trying to persuade both parties to compromise.
Democrats have dismissed the offer, saying they would not negotiate on border security before reopening the government and would not trade a temporary extension of the immigrants' protections in return for a permanent border wall they have called ineffective, costly and immoral.
The bill is broadly supported by Republicans, but they are unlikely to have enough votes to get it through.
"It's hard to imagine 60 votes developing for either one," said Roy Blunt, Republican senator for Missouri.
One possible compromise which emerged from House Democrats this week was the idea of giving Trump the money he demands for security along the Mexican border, but stipulating it could not be used to build a physical wall.
James Clyburn, the third most senior House Democrat, suggested they could hand the president $5.7bn for a high-tech "smart wall" - comprised of technological tools such as drones, X-rays and sensors, as well as more border patrol agents.
"These are the types of things that we are going to be putting forward," he told reporters.
Republican Representative Tom Cole, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said the proposal could help.
“Any movement, any discussion is helpful,” Cole said. “We’ve got to get past this wall-or-no-wall debate.”
Away from the shutdown, Donald Trump has been accused by the UK's counterterror police chief of handing "a propaganda victory" to Isis by announcing the withdrawal of US troops from Syria.
Trump 'handed Isis propaganda victory' with Syria troop withdrawal, UK terror police chief says
Exclusive: Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu tells The Independent it would be ‘complacent to think threat has gone’The majority of Americans blame Donald Trump for the government shutdown, according to a new poll.
Sixty per cent of US adults say the president bears a great deal of responsibility for the prolonged deadlock, found the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research.
Thirty-one per cent place the same amount of blame on congressional Democrats, while 36 per cent believe Republicans are responsibility.
Some 65 per cent of Americans believe the shutdown, which entered its 34th day today, is a major problem for their country.
The poll is the latest sign that the shutdown could damage the president, who in the early stages of the deadlock declared he was willing to keep government departments closed for "months or even years".
Donald Trump’s Republican proposal will go to a vote today and is expected to fail, as it is not expected to receive any support.
The Senate is then expected to hold another vote on a Democratic proposal that would reopen the government and table negotiations on border wall funding and immigration until the federal agencies impacted by the nation’s longest shutdown are back up and running.
Meanwhile, the president is tweeting his new slogan surrounding the issue: “BUILD THE WALL AND CRIME WILL FALL!”
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association has released a frightening statement about the impact the government shutdown has had on airports and travel across the country.
“We cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break,” the statement read. “It is unprecedented.”
The number of people seeking jobless benefits dropped last week to the lowest level since November 1969, a sign the job market remains strong despite the partial government shutdown, now in its fifth week.
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment aid declined 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 199,000. The four-week average, a less volatile figure, dropped 5,500 to 215,000.
The tally of furloughed federal employees requesting unemployment aid jumped to 25,419, more than double the previous week. Those figures are tracked in a separate category and aren’t included in the overall figures.
AP
and Pelosi for you too: 5993052614001
The president has seemingly stopped any effort to negotiate on his demands for border wall funding which have triggered the longest government shutdown in American history.
NBC reports Donald Trump has not had any scheduled meeting with Democratic leadership this week and hasn’t pushed for Democrats to support his compromise calling for the wall funding in exchange for extensions to protections for certain undocumented immigrants.
Democrats have also said they have not spoken with the president since a meeting in the Oval Office last week in which he reportedly angrily left after Nancy Pelosi said she would not support any money going towards his campaign promise of a wall sprawling the US-Mexico border.
The National Transportation Safety Board has reported a spike in accidents being left uninvestigated due to the government shutdown.
Nancy Pelosi is slamming Donald Trump and his administration for the government shutdown after Wilbur Ross said he was not sure why federal employees needed to stand in food lines and seek additional aid during the closure.
“Is this the ‘let them eat cake’ kind of attitude,” the House Speaker said, “or ‘call your father for money?’”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the sole House Democrat to vote down a bill to reopen the government, telling the New York Post her decision was made after speaking to her constituents about the impact the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has had on the community.
“We were having conversations with our community after we voted for DHS [Department of Homeland Security] funding the first time,” the progressive lawmaker told The Post after the vote. “We’re hearing back a lot from our local community and they’re uncomfortable with any vote on funding for ICE.”
The president has tweeted his reaction to Nancy Pelosi’s press conference in real time, writing on Twitter, “Nancy just said she “just doesn’t understand why?” Very simply, without a Wall it all doesn’t work. Our Country has a chance to greatly reduce Crime, Human Trafficking, Gangs and Drugs. Should have been done for decades.”
He added, “We will not Cave!”
Senator Joe Manchin has signalled his support for the two bills up for a vote today to possibly end the government shutdown.
The senator wrote on Twitter, “Today I will vote for both gov funding bills b/c I believe we must end this harmful shutdown immediately & it’s our first opportunity in the Senate to do so. Even though they will probably fail, these votes are a start to finding a way to reopen the gov & get WVians back to work.”
Here’s more from commerce chief Wilbur Ross’ comments that sparked backlash on Thursday:
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, one of the richest people in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, questioned Thursday why furloughed federal workers were using food banks instead of taking out loans to get through the monthlong partial government shutdown.
Mr Ross was asked on CNBC to comment on reports that some of the 800,000 workers currently not receiving paychecks are going to homeless shelters to get food.
“Well, I know they are and I don’t really quite understand why,” he said. “The obligations that they would undertake, say borrowing from a bank or a credit union, are in effect federally guaranteed. So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out ? there’s no real reason why they shouldn’t be able to get a loan against it.”
AP
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