Democrats pressure Trump to end shutdown

WASHINGTON - With no weekend breakthrough to end a prolonged partial government shutdown, US President Donald Trump is standing firm in his border wall funding demands and newly empowered House Democrats are planning to step up pressure on Trump and Republican lawmakers to reopen the government.

"During our meetings with congressional staff this weekend, we made it clear that we have a crisis on our southern border, and we outlined the president's plan to secure our border, build a wall, and protect the American people," Vice President Mike Pence said after the Sunday meeting.

Trump showed no signs of budging on his demand more than $5 billion for a wall along the US-Mexico border, though on Sunday he did offer to build it with steel rather than concrete, a concession Democrats panned.

With the shutdown lurching into a third week, many Republicans watched nervously from the sidelines as hundreds of thousands of federal workers went without pay and government disruptions hit the lives of ordinary US citizens.

White House officials affirmed Trump's funding request in a letter to Capitol Hill after a meeting on Sunday with senior congressional aides led by Pence yielded little progress.

The letter from Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought sought funding for a "steel barrier on the Southwest border".

The White House said the letter, as well as details provided during the meeting, sought to answer Democrats' questions about the funding request. Democrats, though, said the administration still failed to provide a full budget of how it would spend the billions requested for the wall from Congress. Trump campaigned on a promise that Mexico would pay for the wall, but Mexico has refused.

Trump sought to frame a steel barrier as progress, saying Democrats "don't like concrete, so we'll give them steel". The president has already suggested his definition of the wall is flexible, but Democrats have made it clear they see a wall as immoral and ineffective and prefer other types of border security funded at already agreed upon levels.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, intends to begin passing individual bills to reopen agencies in the coming days, starting with the Treasury Department to ensure people receive their tax refunds. That effort is designed to squeeze Senate Republicans, some of whom are growing increasingly anxious about the extended shutdown.

Among the Republicans expressing concerns was Senator Susan Collins, who said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should take up bills from the Democraticled House.

"Let's get those reopened while the negotiations continue," Collins said on NBC's Meet the Press.

Ap - Xinhua

(China Daily 01/08/2019 page12)