Day 25 of the Trump border wall government shutdown….
The Hill….
No Democrats attended a lunch on Tuesday with President Trumpdesigned to reach an agreement to end the government shutdown and fund a border wall, as the president’s attempt to force leaders back to the negotiating table fell flat.
Trump invited several moderate House Democrats to the White House in an effort to undermine Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has refused to grant Trump his demand for $5.7 billion in wall funding. But the group turned down the invitation.
“Today, the president offered both Democrats and Republicans the chance to meet for lunch at the White House. Unfortunately, no Democrats will attend,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement ahead of the meeting….
House Democrats on Tuesday failed to garner the two-thirds majority needed to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to provide funding to reopen the government through Feb. 1.
The bill, which went down 237-187, was brought to the floor in an effort to pressure GOP lawmakers to break with President Trump in his demand for border wall funding amid the partial government shutdown.
Six Republicans — Reps. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Will Hurd (Texas), John Katko(N.Y.), Chris Smith (N.J.), Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) — joined Democrats in voting for the measure, fewer than backed similar legislation last week…..
Axios…
During a White House lunch focused on ending the government shutdown with House Republicans Tuesday, President Trump remained committed to his demand for $5.7 billion for a wall on the southern border, while continuing to distance himself from declaring a national emergency in order to get it.
“The topic was brought up only once — not by the president — and we spent hardly any time on it,” Congresswoman Susan Brooks (R-Iowa), who attended the lunch, told Axios.