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US President Donald Trump has said he is prepared for a partial shutdown of the US government – now entering its third week – to last years.
After meeting top Democrats, Mr Trump said he could declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and build a US-Mexico border wall. The president said he would not sign any bill without wall funding, but Democrats are adamantly opposed. Around 800,000 federal workers have been without pay since 22 December. The Republican president initially gave a positive account of the meeting at the White House, describing it as “very productive”. “We’re all on the same path in terms of wanting to get government open,” he said at the White House. But then he acknowledged in response to a journalist’s question that he had threatened to keep federal agencies closed for years if necessary. “I did say that, absolutely I said that,” said Mr Trump in the White House Rose Garden. “I don’t think it will but I am prepared.” When asked whether he had considered using emergency presidential powers to bypass congressional approval of funding, Mr Trump said he had. “I may do it. We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly. That’s another way of doing it.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer met Mr Trump earlier on Friday. Afterwards, Senator Schumer told reporters: “We told the president we needed the government open. He resisted. “In fact he said he’d keep the government closed for a very long period of time. Months or even years.” The White House and top Democrats also held a meeting earlier this week over the shutdown. Democrats, who now hold the majority in the House, passed spending bills on Thursday to reopen the government, including $1.3bn (£1bn) of border security funds until 8 February. But the legislation cannot take effect unless it passes the Republican-controlled Senate, where leader Mitch McConnell said his party would not back any measures without the president’s support. The Kentucky senator called the Democratic budget “a time-wasting act of political posturing”. The Washington Post reported on Friday that while hundreds of federal workers go without pay, the president’s cabinet secretaries, top administrators as well as Vice-President Mike Pence are expected to receive annual raises of about $10,000. The partial US government shutdown began when Congress and Mr Trump failed to reach an agreement over a budget bill in December. The Republicans had passed an initial funding bill including $5bn (£4bn) for the wall, when they still had a majority in the House, but they could not get the necessary 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate. Two vulnerable Republican senators up for re-election in 2020 – Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine – have spoken out in favour of approving the budget bills to end the government shutdown. Source:BBC]]>