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The Office of Management and Budget puts an end to all congressional travel with government aircraft until the government reopens. The decision comes one day after President Trump revealed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was leading a congressional delegation (known as CODEL) in Brussels and Afghanistan, and forbidding her to travel by public transport .
When shutting down a government, any government-owned aircraft, rented, leased or chartered, will support a congressional delegation without the express written approval of the chief of staff of the White House, "the Acting Director of the BOM, Russell Vought, wrote in a memorandum addressed to the heads of the executive departments and agencies.
Mr. Trump announced unexpectedly that Pelosi would not be allowed to using a government aircraft during his trip Thursday, a day after Pelosi wrote a letter urging the president to postpone his speech on the state of the Union at the end of the month, citing security concerns
Pelosi and CODEL reportedly used military means of transportation The army is currently funded during the closure of the government Mr. Trump said his decision to stop the trip from Pelosi was from s & # 39; ensure that she stays in the country to negotiate with the president to end the closure. Trump also revealed the secret destination of Pelosi before the trip, which is generally not the case for security reasons. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said on Friday that CODEL had attempted to steal commercial flights, but leaked White House travel plans had distorted the plan. "In the middle of the night, the State Department's diplomatic security service provided an updated threat assessment indicating that the president announcing this sensitive trip had significantly heightened the danger to the delegation, soldiers, members of the security and other officials in support of the trip ", Hammill tweeted .
Although Mr. Trump blamed Pelosi for wanting to leave during the closing, he made a similar trip – leaving the United States to visit the Americans in the war zone in Iraq – the day after Christmas. . A CODEL of Republican congressmen also went to the Middle East around Christmas.
Pelosi and Mr. Trump are stuck in a stalemate over the reopening of the government, Mr. Trump refusing to sign any bill not including funding from a border, and the Democrats from Pelosi and Senate refusing to negotiate with the government are closed. Neither side seems to have fallen back.
Approximately 800,000 federal public servants were laid off or working without pay at the time of the closure of their fourth week.
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