WASHINGTON — President Trump and congressional Democratic leaders agreed to reopen the government Friday, ending a 35-day shutdown, but that doesn’t mean some 800,000 federal workers won’t see their paychecks disappear again in three weeks.
Trump said the 21-day continuing resolution would allow time for a bipartisan conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers and leaders to “immediately begin reviewing the requests of our Homeland Security experts” and come up with a plan to “show all Americans, and people all around the world, that both political parties are united when it comes to protecting our country and protecting our people.”
“Many disagree, but I really feel that, working with Democrats and Republicans, we can make a truly great and secure deal happen for everyone,” he told reporters at the White House.
At their own press conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) declared “no one should ever underestimate” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), “as Donald Trump has learned.”
“We in Congress will roll up our sleeves and try to find some agreement on border security. We don’t agree on some of the specifics of border security. Democrats are firmly against the wall,” Schumer said. “But we agree on many things, such as the need for drug inspection technology, humanitarian aid, strengthen security at our ports of entry, and that bodes well for finding and eventual agreement, the fact that we have so many areas where we can agree.”
“Shutting down the government over a policy difference is self-defeating. It accomplishes nothing but pain and suffering for the country and incurs an enormous political cost to the party shutting it down,” he added. “We cannot, cannot ever hold American workers hostage again.”
Trump signed the funding bill Friday night after quick passage in the House and Senate.
“In 21 days President @realDonaldTrump is moving forward building the wall with or without the Democrats,” tweeted press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “The only outstanding question is whether the Democrats want something or nothing.”
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