US Senate fails to pass bills to fund government
The US Senate failed to gather enough support on Thursday for two proposals backed by White House and by Democrats that would reopen the government after a 34-day impasse.
The result of the Senate vote means that there is no immediate solution for the US government shutdown over the conflict of the funding of the border wall. There are currently 800,000 federal employees without pay.
Democrats remain opposed to fund the president’s wall, insisting they want a deal to reopen the government before talking about border security.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of preferring “political combat with the president” to resolving the partial federal shutdown.
House majority leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said: “The president must now accept that the only way forward is to reopen government and pay federal employees, and then both parties can negotiate a measure to ensure our borders are secure.”
President Donald Trump still demands Democrats to agree to grant $5.7bn for his proposed border wall before he reopens the government but has agreed to consider a plan coming from the Senate with a solution for the shutdown.
“Without a Wall there cannot be safety and security at the Border or for the U.S.A. BUILD THE WALL AND CRIME WILL FALL!”, the President tweeted on Thursday.
“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. We will not Cave!”, he added.