Updated
With Nancy Pelosi reclaiming her role as Speaker of
the US House of Representatives, Democrats are set to waste no time
flexing their new power to try to end a 13-day partial government
shutdown while ignoring President Donald Trump's demand for $5 billion
for a border wall.
Key points:
- Nancy Pelosi was confirmed as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives
- A Democrat bill to end the shutdown would be unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate
- Mr Trump said the Democrats are using the shutdown as a political play for the 2020 election
Today marks the first day of divided government in Washington since Mr Trump took office in January 2017, with Democrats taking control in the House from his fellow Republicans, who remain in charge of the Senate.
The 2019-2020 Congress begins work with roughly a quarter of the federal government closed, affecting 800,000 employees, in a shutdown triggered by Mr Trump's demand last month for the money for a wall along the US-Mexican border — strongly opposed by Democrats — as part of any legislation funding government agencies.
Congressional leaders from both parties held unproductive talks with Mr Trump at the White House on Wednesday and are to return for another round on Friday, a sign the shutdown is likely to continue for the rest of the week.
Passage of a bill to end the shutdown by the new Democratic House majority was expected to occur shortly after Ms Pelosi was elected as Speaker, with the liberal from San Francisco ascending for a second time to one of Washington's most powerful jobs.
With the support of her majority Democrats, Ms Pelosi — who is a controversial figure among Republicans — was able to comfortably beat her opponent, Republican majority leader Kevin McCarthy, to the prestigious position.
The two-part Democratic package includes a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security at current levels through February 8, providing $1.3 billion for border fencing and $300 million for other border security items including technology and cameras.
The second part would fund the other federal agencies that are now unfunded including the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, Commerce and Justice, through September 30, the end of the current fiscal year.
Democrats said their approach would give both sides a month to negotiate a compromise on border security while reopening all other parts of the government.
'Nothing for the wall', new Speaker Nancy Pelosi says
Mr Trump made the wall a key campaign promise in 2016, saying Mexico would pay for it and arguing it is needed to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking.But Democrats have called the wall immoral, ineffective and medieval.
“Everything indicates that a president can be indicted after he is no longer President of the United States.”
Watch incoming House Speaker @NancyPelosi’s exclusive full interview with @savannahguthrie
"No, no. Nothing for the wall," Ms Pelosi said in an interview aired on Thursday on NBC's Today show.
"We're talking about border security. There is no amount of persuasion [Mr Trump] can do to say to us, 'We want you to do something that is not effective, that costs billions of dollars'."
"That sends the wrong message about who we are as a country."Mr Trump took to Twitter to accuse the Democrats of playing politics, writing "the Shutdown is only because of the 2020 Presidential Election".
The Shutdown is only because of the 2020 Presidential Election. The Democrats know they can’t win based on all of the achievements of “Trump,” so they are going all out on the desperately needed Wall and Border Security - and Presidential Harassment. For them, strictly politics!
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday his chamber, still in Republican hands, would not vote on the Democratic legislation, calling it a "political sideshow" and "total non-starter".
National parks have closed campgrounds for fear that toilets will overflow. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are working without pay. The immigration courts, already overburdened, are largely shuttered.
The $5 billion Mr Trump is seeking would cover only a portion of the money needed for a border wall, a project estimated to cost about $US23 billion ($32.8 billion).
Reuters
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