24 days and counting…..
Donald Trump is working on a record he should NOT be proud of…..
Politicalwire…
A new Quinnipiac poll finds American voters support a Democratic proposal to reopen parts of the government that do not involve border security while negotiating funding for a border wall, 63% to 30%.
Every party, gender, education, age and racial group supports this idea except Republicans, who are opposed 52% to 38%.
The GOP is losing the battle as 56% of American voters say President Trump and Republicans in Congress are responsible for the shutdown, while just 36% say Democrats are responsible….
The Hill….
A bipartisan group of senators met on Monday night to search for a way out of the partial government shutdown, but made no visible progress toward breaking the weeks-long stalemate.
Democrats say their message in the meeting was that President Trump has to fully reopen the federal government before they commit to serious negotiations about the border.
“From the Dems’ standpoint, our point is clear, which is government’s got to be reopen before we have a discussion about border security,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who took part in the meeting, told reporters.
He added that the “Democratic message was very unified” in the meeting, and if the government was fully reopened they would be willing to talk “border security, we’ll talk immigration reform.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) echoed that in a tweet saying that “if President Trump won’t re-open the government, I don’t think there’s much for us to discuss.”….
Politico….
Washington Dulles International on Monday became the latest airport to close screening lanes because of absences by unpaid TSA agents, adding to a pileup as the 24-day-old government shutdown strains air travel across the country.
Miami International and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport similarly announced checkpoint closures over the weekend because of a higher-than-usual rate of no-shows by TSA agents. Meanwhile, passengers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — the busiest in the world — were stuck in security lines more than an hour long Monday morning after closures of at least six security lanes, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.
“We are down a few security lanes because of the shutdown,” an Atlanta airport spokesperson told POLITICO. “The lines are long but there is a continuous flow; they are moving.”….
Huffington Post….
President Donald Trump kept his hard line Monday on the partial government shutdown, now in a fourth week over his insistence on billions of dollars for a long, impregnable wall at the U.S. Mexico border.
“When it comes to keeping the American people safe, I will never, ever back down,” Trump said, repeating his strong view that the wall is needed on both security and humanitarian grounds. He spoke to farmers attending a convention in New Orleans.
As Congress returned to Washington for a second week of legislative business since House control reverted to Democrats, the shutdown hit Day 24, affecting federal workers and services. Trump has demanded $5.7 billion for his long-promised wall, while Democrats, who oppose the wall as both immoral and ineffective, insist Trump re-open the government before they negotiate further border security.
Before leaving for the speech, Trump said he had dismissed a proposal from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to reopen the government for several weeks and continue dealing with Democrats over money for the wall.
“I did reject it, yes,” Trump said. “I’m not interested. I want to get it solved. I don’t want to just delay it.”
Trump also backed further away from the idea of declaring a national emergency as an escape hatch, saying: “I’m not looking to call a national emergency. This is so simple we shouldn’t have to.”….