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Erica Werner
A Congressional Journalist Interest in Economic Policy
A Bipartite Group of Senators at the Base Plans to Lead Discussions on the Way to end several weeks government stop, with stop talks between congressional leaders and the White House
The group involves Senator Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.) and others, according to the involved persons. He will hold his first meeting on Monday night.
The prospects for the group to get results – or even get started – are uncertain. But the creation of the group is a sign that the senators of both parties are eager to end the closure, even if it means taking matters into a stalemate between the biggest Democrats and President Trump.
With the group closing for the fourth week, Trump remains buried in his $ 5.7 billion request to build hundreds of kilometers of new walls along the US-Mexico border. The Democrats refuse to give him an amount close to this amount.
[Trump rejects suggestion to allow government to reopen temporarily while talks continue]
An effort last week by Senator Lindsey O. Graham (RS.C.) collapsed after Vice President Pence publicly announced that Trump was not interested in a trade deal. Funding a wall for the protection of unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States while they were children.
Trump on Monday called on Democrats to accept his demands, reiterating that he had no plans to call for a national emergency to build the wall bypassing Congress.
A national emergency declaration appeared as a possible way to end the shutdown last week, before Trump returned to his idea on Friday. He also said he was not interested in Graham's proposal to temporarily reopen the government while the negotiations proceed.
"Democrats should say," We want border security. We must build a wall otherwise we will not be able to have border security. And we should continue our life, "Trump told the press in front of the White House," The Democrats stop us and stop a lot of great people from getting paid, all they have to do is say: "We want border security." That automatically means a wall or a barrier. "
Democrats say they are open to negotiating border security – but only after Trump has agreed to reopen the government. The House, chaired by Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), New President, has spent the past two weeks passing spending bills to reopen sections of the federal government that have nothing to do with it. with the wall, an effort that will continue this week 19659012] But Trump made it clear that he would veto this bill and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) A stated that it is not necessary to voquerait anything for a vote that & # 39; he would not support.
McConnell is unleashed. Pelosi and the Democrats in a speech delivered Monday in front of the Senate, saying that "President Pelosi and her far-left base have decided that the policy of obstruction would pass before sensible decision-making".
The leader of the Senate minority, Charles E. Schumer (DN) .Y.) Responded shortly thereafter in his own speech on the ground.
"Chief McConnell is now trying to blame the current Speaker of the House. He left for lunch on that one, "said Schumer. "This House voted in favor of reopening the government. It's the Senate that did not do it because Chief McConnell will refuse to table the bill.
The closure lasted 24 days on Monday, with about 25% of the federal government closed after insufficient funding, December. 22. Some 800,000 federal public servants are now without pay, although many of them must continue to work because their jobs are considered essential.
The last round of talks between Trump and congressional leaders collapsed last week after his departure. them when Pelosi refused his requests to pay for the wall. No further discussion is planned, and no one at the White House or Capitol Hill can say how and when the closure, which is already the longest in the country's history, will end.
McConnell's allies were not optimistic this Monday to talk about bipartite discussions among the basic senators were key to getting out of the stalemate. McConnell remains convinced that Trump, Pelosi and Schumer need to hear about a solution to succeed, they said.
McConnell does not discourage individual senators from thinking or developing strategies, according to a senior GOP advisor in the Senate condition of anonymity to describe his point of view, but his thinking on how to solve the problem has not changed.
"As long as their answer stays" no ", there is probably no productive role to play for him," said Josh Holmes. Former chief of staff McConnell and close confidant of the Senate leader, spoke about the Democratic resistance to financing the negotiating wall.
Holmes said that if Democrats presented demands in return for funding the wall, that could appeal to McConnell. engage more closely in the negotiations.
"If you are a democrat, you would like to accomplish a number of things, so throw it there," Holmes said.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), McConnell's close ally, stressed that the group will have to find something that Trump will accept.
"As long as they will not propose anything that the President will sign, it is unfortunately a futile effort"
"I know that there has been a lot of discussion – Senator Graham and I hear Manchin and others. The usual suspects are involved, and it's a good thing if they can help us out of this stalemate, "added Cornyn.
To the question of whether McConnell should get more involved in the negotiations with Trump and congressional leaders, Cornyn said his majority leader is "exactly where he wants to be" and "exactly where he should be, saying that when he can get something that the president will sign, he will put it to the parquet floor. "
For their part, Senate Democrats applied a new pressure on McConnell to act first and the Senate voted to reopen the government.
"Mitch McConnell has the keys," said Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) In an interview.
Councilor Kellyanne Conway of the White House said the following about "Fox & Friends" on Monday: "I'm a fan of power maybe talking to some of the 31 Members of the House who represent the districts that Trump-Pen won in 2016. Some of them emit happy rumors about border security.
But many of these lawmakers said on Monday that they would not be interested in the negotiations until Trump reopened the government.
A spokeswoman for Representative Susie Lee (D- Nev.), Who represents a district narrowly won by Trump, said on Monday: "Once the government is reopened, it would be more than willing to work with the president and Republicans in Congress to improve border security and reform our immigration system. "
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