WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on the budget battle
The
White House says President Donald Trump has signed a bill reopening the
government, ending a 69-hour display of partisan dysfunction after
Democrats reluctantly voted to temporarily pay for resumed operations.
The
shutdown took effect Saturday on the one-year anniversary of the
president's inauguration, but the White House maintains that Trump came
out the winner in the GOP's standoff with Democrats.
The
White House argues Democrats "caved" after Trump refused to negotiate
with them on immigration policy until the government reopened. Democrats
had been holding out for a firmer commitment to provide protections for
some 700,000 younger immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as
children.
Prominent
immigrant advocacy groups are skewering Democratic senators for
relenting in a fight that linked immigration changes to continued
government funding.
The
youth group United We Dream says Senate Democrats who supported a deal
to keep the government running through Feb. 8 are "enablers" of
President Donald Trump's agenda.
The Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights says Democrats "need to grow some courage."
The
American Civil Liberties Union says Republicans and Democrats "betrayed
our American values and allowed bigotry and fear to prevail."
America's Voice executive director Frank Sharry says he was moved to tears of disappointment that Democrats "blinked."
Congress has approved a bipartisan agreement to re-open the federal government after a three-day partial shutdown.
The
House approved the bill, 266-150, hours after the Senate backed it,
81-18. President Donald Trump is expected to quickly sign the measure to
fund government operations through Feb. 8.
The
votes set the stage for hundreds of thousands of federal workers to
return Tuesday, cutting short what could have become a messy and costly
impasse.
Senate
Democrats reluctantly voted in favor of the bill, relenting in return
for Republican assurances that the Senate will soon take up the plight
of young immigrant "dreamers" and other contentious issues. Democrats
from states won by Trump in 2016 broke with progressives looking to
satisfy liberals' and immigrants' demands.
Democratic
Sen. Jon Tester of Montana has voted against a bipartisan agreement to
re-open the federal government after a three-day shutdown. He was the
only "no" vote Monday among 10 incumbent Democrats facing re-election
this year in states won by President Donald Trump in 2016.
Tester
says the budget deal did not include funding for community health
centers important to his rural state, nor did it add resources for
border security.
Tester
says that while pundits have focused on immigration, "this was always
about Montana for me and I just won't allow Washington to keep failing
our state."
The
National Republican Senatorial Committee is blasting Tester for
"engaging in political games with vital government funding" and says the
two-term senator voted alongside the Senate's most liberal Democrats.
The
Senate has overwhelmingly approved legislation that will end the
federal shutdown, almost certainly in time for the government to reopen
Tuesday.
The
81-18 vote came hours after Democrats abandoned their opposition to the
measure. They'd been using the shutdown in hopes of pressuring Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cut a deal on immigration.
But many moderates from both parties were pushing party leaders to reopen federal agencies.
Democrats
backed the bill after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he'd
try reaching a compromise on immigration and the budget early next
month. McConnell said if there was still no immigration agreement by
Feb. 8, he'd immediately begin debate on the issue.
The bill will finance government through Feb. 8. House passage was expected later Monday.
The Senate has approved legislation to make sure federal workers get paid for the three-day government shutdown.
The unanimous voice vote sends the measure to the House, where approval is expected.
Under
the law, workers aren't paid when there's a lapse in funding for the
government — even if they're deemed essential and have to show up to
work.
Monday's measure would fix that and make sure every federal worker would be paid during the shutdown that began Saturday.
The
measure would also add retroactive pay language to a stopgap spending
bill to reopen the government that passed the Senate Monday. President
Donald Trump is expected to sign the legislation as soon as he receives
it.
President
Donald Trump is meeting with a pair of moderate Democratic senators at
the White House Monday afternoon to discuss immigration.
Press
secretary Sarah Sanders says West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Alabama
Sen. Doug Jones are meeting with the president to discuss the
legislative path forward after the three-day government shutdown is
ended.
The
red-state lawmakers both broke with the majority of their party Friday
on a vote to keep the government open. But enough Democrats withheld
their support from the measure in an effort to force progress on
legislation to address immigration policy.
Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pledging to bring up immigration
legislation next month if agreement isn't reached by Feb. 8.
The
No. 2 Senate Republican says President Donald Trump is eager to involve
himself in the immigration debate and "reach a solution."
Texas
Sen. John Cornyn says he and five other GOP senators met Monday with
Trump at the White House soon after Democrats halted their blockade
against a bill ending the government shutdown.
Cornyn says they discussed how to address immigration issues "in creative ways."
Sens.
Charles Grassley of Iowa, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, David Perdue of
Georgia, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and James Lankford of Oklahoma
also met with Trump. Several of them are among the harder-line
Republicans on immigration.
Democrats
let the bill ending the shutdown advance after Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell said he intended to reach a bipartisan deal on
immigration and budget issues.
President
Donald Trump says he is pleased that congressional Democrats "have come
to their senses" and abandoned their filibuster that shut down the
federal government. Trump says his administration will make a long-term
immigration deal "if and only if it's good for our country."
Trump
issued a statement Monday afternoon after roughly 25 senators from both
parties helped negotiate an end to the federal government shutdown. It
was read by spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a press briefing.
Trump
said he was glad the government will be funded. He continued: "Once the
government is funded, my administration will work toward solving the
problem of very unfair illegal immigration."
He added: "We will make a long term deal on immigration if and only if it's good for our country."
Sen.
Susan Collins of Maine says Monday is "a day to celebrate" after
roughly 25 senators from both parties helped negotiate an end to the
government shutdown.
The
Republican says the group shared a common determination to keep the
government running while doing something about "Dreamers" who were
brought to the country as children and are now here illegally. Collins
says a group of 17 senators grew to a quarter of the Senate over the
weekend.
Several
Democrats who were part of that group dropped their objections Monday
after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a final offer to try to reach
bipartisan solutions on immigration and other issues by early February.
Vice President Mike Pence is praising a Senate agreement to reopen the federal government.
Pence
says before a dinner in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) that the shutdown is ending "thanks to the
firm stand taken by President Trump" and congressional Republicans.
Pence
says Americans know a "minority" in the Senate chose to shut down the
government. He said, "But the Schumer shutdown failed." He was referring
to Senate Demoratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
Pence was joined by Netanyahu for statements at the prime minister's residence before dinner with their spouses.
It looks like the government shutdown will end soon.
The
Senate has advanced a bill reopening federal agencies through Feb. 8
after Democrats relented and lifted their blockade against the
legislation.
The
shutdown began Saturday after Democrats derailed a Republican measure
that would have kept government open until Feb. 16. Democrats wanted to
pressure the GOP to cut a deal protecting young immigrants from
deportation and boosting federal spending.
Moderates from both parties pressured leaders to end the shutdown and compromise.
Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats agreed to back the bill
reopening government after he and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
agreed to begin debating an immigration bill by Feb. 8.
The
Senate vote was 81-18 — well above the 60 votes needed. The Senate
still must vote on final passage to send the bill to the House.
Senate leaders have reached an agreement to reopen the government.
Democrats have yielded and ended their delaying tactics against a bill financing federal agencies through Feb. 8.
Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says in exchange, Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell has agreed to begin debating immigration by that date.
McConnell
says the end to the standoff shows "the American people didn't
understand" why Democrats shut down the government because they wanted
to help "illegal immigrants."
The
Senate has started a vote to advance the bill reopening government. It
is expected to pass easily, and House approval is expected later.
Democrats are aligning behind a plan to reopen the federal government as the Senate heads toward a key vote.
Several
Democratic senators predict a proposal to fund the government until
Feb. 8 will move forward, overcoming a Democratic filibuster. That would
clear the way for an end to the three-day shutdown.
Democrats
appear to have jumped on board after two days of negotiations that
ended with new reassurances from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
that the Senate will consider immigration proposals in the coming weeks.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Monday morning she believed Democrats and Republicans now have "a path forward."
Florida Democrat Bill Nelson is predicting a resounding yes from Democrats on the plan.
Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he hopes and intends to resolve
immigration and a host of other issues by early February in an effort to
come to bipartisan agreement to reopen the federal government.
Senate
Democrats blocked a House-passed temporary funding bill to reopen the
government through Feb. 16. A pending Senate measure would last through
Feb. 8.
Opening
the Senate Monday, McConnell said that if they could not find
bipartisan solutions on immigration, military spending, disaster aid and
other issues by the Feb. 8 deadline then he would hold a vote on those
matters. Top Democrat Chuck Schumer did not appear on the floor to
respond.
Several members of both parties met Monday morning to try and resolve the shutdown mess.
White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney is defending President Donald Trump's lack of outreach to Democratic lawmakers during the government shutdown.
Mulvaney discussed the shutdown on MSNBC Monday morning.
Trump
did not speak with any Democratic senators over the weekend. Asked why,
Mulvaney said Trump spoke with Democrats before the shutdown and will
speak to them when it is over.
But he says: "we are not going to negotiate immigration in the middle of the shutdown."
House
Speaker Paul Ryan says if the Senate approves a temporary spending bill
to reopen the government through Feb. 8, the House will approve it,
too.
Senate
Democrats had blocked a stopgap measure passed by the House to keep the
federal bureaucracy operating through Feb. 16. But speaking on "Fox and
Friends," Ryan says the new date works for the House.
The
Wisconsin Republican also says negotiations on an immigration deal are
taking place in good faith. Democrats want to protect young immigrants
in the country illegally and are skeptical of Republican pledges to
bring up free-standing immigration legislation next month.
Democratic
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut says on MSNBC he has "zero
confidence" that Ryan will bring legislation to shield the roughly
700,000 immigrants known as "Dreamers."
President Donald Trump is accusing Democrats of prioritizing services and security for noncitizens over U.S. citizens.
He says in a tweet Monday: "Not good!"
Some
government functions shut down over the weekend. Democrats are
rejecting a funding bill until Republicans agree to protect 700,000
immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
The
Republican president says in a second tweet Monday that "Democrats have
shut down our government in the interests of their far left base. They
don't want to do it but are powerless!"
Trump's
earlier tweet appeared to undercut comments by his legislative affairs
director, Marc Short, who told CNN that the immigrants in question are
law-abiding and "productive to our society."
Short says the administration wants to "find a pathway for them" to stay in the U.S.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo says the government shutdown won't affect the spy agency's operations.
He
tells "CBS This Morning" in an interview Monday: "We're going to
continue crushing our adversaries whether the government's open or
closed."
A
dispute in Congress over spending and immigration forced scores of
federal government agencies and outposts to close their doors early
Saturday. But many government functions, particularly those involving
national security, are considered essential and won't be affected.
Pompeo
also says he doesn't agree that the stalemate on Capitol Hill that led
to the shutdown is a signal of dysfunction in Washington.
He
says, "The American people are having complicated discussions about
their priorities." He says that's entirely appropriate in a democracy.
The
government shutdown is set to complicate the beginning of the workweek.
Over the weekend, the Senate inched closer but ultimately fell short of
an agreement that would have reopened federal agencies.
Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer
said negotiations were still underway late into Sunday night, with a
vote to break a Democratic filibuster on a short-term funding bill
scheduled for noon Monday.
Under
the proposal taking shape, Democratic would agree to a three-week
spending measure — until Feb. 8 — in return for a commitment from the
Republican leadership in the Senate to address immigration policy and
other pressing legislative matters in the coming weeks. But there is no
agreement yet.
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