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President Trump then listens as he heads a roundtable on border security with local leaders on Friday in the White House Cabinet room. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP)
Mike DeBonis
Congressional Journalist Covering the House of Representatives
The longest federal closure in American history has resulted in its Week four, Saturday, with President Trump showing a new mistrust on Twitter, the congressional Democrats firmly resolved to resist his calls for a border wall and unpaid workers trapped.
"We will not be here long before the Democrats return from their" holidays ". and go back to work, "said Trump Saturday Saturday morning. "I'm in the White House, ready to sign!"
Trump's statements come a day after some 800,000 federal employees missed an expected salary and after he ended speculation that which he could declare a national emergency to start building his wall and break the stalemate. Instead, he told reporters on Friday: "We want Congress to do its job."
Federal workers who were forced to work without pay began to go to court to challenge the closure.
The National Federation of Federal Employees. , The National Association of Government Employees, the National Weather Service Employees Organization and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers – representing a total of 244,000 members working in the coastal regions of Virginia, southern Ontario California, Central Montana and Washington – filed suit in the US Federal Claims Court on Friday, demanding full compensation for time and overtime done within three weeks of closure.
"This trial is not complicated: we do not believe that it is lawful to force a person to work without paying for it," said the federation. President, Randy Erwin, said in a statement. "With this lawsuit we say," No, you can not pay the workers with I.O.U.s. It will not work for us.
Congress passed a law on Friday to guarantee wage arrears to all workers affected by the closure, both those who were dismissed and those who continued to work as staff deemed essential for the closure. protection of life and security. property. The White House has not yet indicated whether Trump would sign it.
In all past closures, workers who were granted leave or not received a return, although federal contractors and their employees are generally not compensated.
In his tweets on Saturday, Trump reacted sharply to a televised comment that he lacked a strategy to end the shutdown. The tweets were published shortly after by a panel "Today" of the NBC channel, composed of journalists from the network, Peter Alexander and Kristen Welker, as well as the Washington Post reporter, Philip Rucker, who touched on the subject.
"I have a plan for closure.," he declared . "But to understand this plan, you must understand the fact that I won the elections and that I promised security and safety for the American people. A wall on the southern border was part of that promise. Elections have consequences!
But the Democrats are fully aware of their own mandate – particularly in the House, where the party won the majority for the first time in eight years by winning 40 seats in the mid-term under the apocalyptic warnings of Trump about the threats posed by illegal immigrants.
Before lawmakers leave Washington on Friday, the House whip, Steve Scalise (R-La.), Had attempted to argue the same point as Trump's about the 2016 election in a Speech exchange with Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.)
"He was elected president by the American people to ensure border security and erect a wall," Scalise said. "It was part of the national debate. I know that some people on your side do not even want to acknowledge that this election took place and the result. But it happened.
Hoyer replied, "Oh no, I think there was an election and he raised this issue. And if I remember correctly, that's why I'm the leader of the majority and you're the minority whip.
Darryl Fears contributed to this report.
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