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The state department ordered his employees to return to work next week, claiming to have found money to cover half a month's salary, with the Trump administration continuing to debate with a federal closure that shows no sign of ending.
This unexpected but temporary move came one day when the White House and congressional Democrats even put an end to the claims of negotiations. The political acrimony between President Trump and Democratic leaders has reached new heights, disturbing members of both parties that the possibility of a short-term resolution is far from being reached.
Trump sent Thursday a letter to Pelosi informing him that he was canceling it. imminent flight to visit US troops in Afghanistan. This came a day after Pelosi had suggested to Trump to postpone his speech on the state of the Union or to present it in written form.
In his letter to Pelosi announcing his cancellation of his trip, Trump wrote that "it would be best if you trade in Washington me and join the Strong Border Security movement to end the closure. "
Confronted with his own questions about plans to send a delegation of senior officials to Davos, Switzerland, next week for the World Economic Forum, Trump announced Thursday his intention to abolish the trip" [o] a big consideration for the 800,000 big American workers who are not getting paid. "Trump himself left the conference earlier this month but had planned to send senior officials, including the Treasury Secretary , Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, 19659006] Cancellations occurred as White House officials, federal employees, government agencies and thousands of businesses struggled for safety. 39 to adjust to a new lysed capital that lacks funding for some of its main operations.The many polls that show that Americans blame Bla Necessity of causing the closure of the plant worried Trump, reported his relatives, causing him to closely monitor the consequences.
Senior White House officials are regularly informed of the number of employees of the Transportation Security Administration. are called sick at work, knowing that significant delays at airports could provoke a huge reaction.
In an attempt to contain other spin-offs, thousands of federal employees are sent back to work, almost always without pay, to prevent the closure of their business. to have a cascading effect on the US economy and position in the world
but it is unclear how long this fragmented approach will work.
Sen. Robert Menendez (NJ), the Democratic's most senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, questioned the legal justification used by the State Department to quickly re-establish its staff, four weeks after the lack of funding. money from the agency.
on this new funding regime, I have serious questions about its impact on the security of our embassy, our efforts to fight terrorism and other vital programs, "he said. He declared the US Capitol on Thursday. (Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg)
The current political stalemate is causing unrest in the federal government, in thousands of households and in some sectors of the economy. , prompting frantic calls from families and business groups for short-term help.
The TSA admitted Thursday that the long closure had affected the ability of its employees to surrender. At work, many of them are sick.Federal employees are generally prohibited from going on strike, even if they are not paid, which has caused many people to loot their retirement account, accept free food or sell Re their property online while they were looking for a way to pay their bills.
"Many employees report that they are not able to get to work because of financial constraints," said TSA.
And some agencies have had to deal with small rebellions scale among employees for whom they must continue to report for work.These employees have recently refused to register work-related travel expenses on their personal credit card, not knowing when they will be reimbursed. Other agencies are ordering employees to return to work, without pay, to minimize the impact of the closure on various industries, including farm corporations, ranchers, loggers, bankers and fishing companies. 19659015] The storm hit the agency and the federal agencies
"People are very impressed by the way the government works with the circumstances.
" s people are very impressed by senior officials and cabinet members. that we are under, "he told surrogates in a call Tuesday afternoon. "We are working hard to make this happen."
Once the closure was triggered, many federal employees were sent home without pay because Congress did not allow payment of their salaries. There are, however, rules that allow agencies to retain certain employees, without pay, during a stop. These workers have traditionally been considered essential to the protection of public safety or government property, but the Trump administration has also activated workers who, in his view, are essential to carry out the activities of the central agency. The White House's Office of Management and Budget has legal leeway to determine who is essential and who needs to stay at home, although some have claimed that the agency was going too far far.
"There is no credible justification" for some of these decisions. said Charles Tiefer, a professor at the University of Baltimore Law School and an expert on government procurement. He said decisions to restart the activities of agencies that had been closed to help farmers and energy workers, for example, were contrary to previous government practice. "These are cases where the government works with a part of the private sector that is favored."
White House officials, however, claimed that they were simply trying to minimize the impact of the closure on as many people as possible. They have re-joined the Internal Revenue Service staff to help process millions of tax returns next month, and they have also found a way to pay per diems in the coming days.
"We are under duress trying to keep this government running," a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he Was not allowed to discuss operations.
Trump was not involved in the minutiae of agency decisions but told Russell Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, and others, to do everything in their power to bring employees back to work so that agency activities can continue, if it is legally possible.
Nevertheless, the approaches of federal agencies have been uneven.
The Small Business Administration, a privileged affair with thousands of US companies, stopped granting new loans and many consumer protection entities stopped inspections.
And some agencies resume
At the Department of the Interior, the offices have modified their contingency plans to support current and future extraction, drilling and grazing on public lands.
On Friday, the Bureau of Land Management changed its plan. allow 19 per cent of its 9,260 employees to continue working during the closure.
According to BLM officials, employees who have returned to work perform activities such as law enforcement, grazing and the preparation of the March lease. sales will take place in several western states.
The Office of Ocean Energy Management of the Interior has also recruited employees to avoid delays in its March auction of oil and gas drilling at sea.
Randall Luthi, President of the National Ocean Industries Association is pleased with this decision.
"The offshore energy industry generates billions of dollars for the tr It creates thousands of high-paying jobs in the United States and strengthens our national energy security", a- he said in a statement.
But some Democrats and environmental groups have criticized this decision as politically dangerous.
On Wednesday, House Natural Resources Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) ), led a group of Democrats in the House by calling the oil and gas industry assistance "a scandalous step", with a "wacky" justification in a letter to the interim secretary of the oil and gas industry. Interior, David Bernhardt [19659035] Legislators have written, "One of the most striking features of the closure is the way the administration has done everything possible to ensure that this closure only affects the Americans and the environment, not the oil and the gas industry.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that it would reopen the offices of the Agricultural Services Agency in the coming days to help farmers process their loans and loans. to prepare their tax returns. These offices had been closed since the start of the closure, but the farmers lobbied the highest authorities of the agency to get them to reopen. Other parts of the agency remained however closed
In the past, agencies had to deal with short-term closures of a week or two, but never anything of this magnitude . One of the reasons they plan to revise their contingency plans is that Trump suggested that it could take months or even years.
Last month, Trump said he would not sign any bill to finance the government's operations if he missed $ 5.7 billion for the creation of walls. and barriers along the Mexican border. Democrats have rejected this request, calling it ineffective and immoral.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump had promised Mexico to pay for the wall, but since his inauguration, he insisted that the project be funded with American taxpayer money. Because Democrats control the House, Trump can not pass a spending bill without their support. Last week, he suggested circumventing their opposition by declaring a national emergency, but he withdrew from this threat in recent days
Lisa Rein, Juliet Eilperin, Carol Morello, Michael Laris and Jeff Stein contributed to the writing of this report.
