Washington: As the partial US government shutdown hit the four-week mark Friday, tensions mounted in Washington on either side of the standoff over President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to help fund a US-Mexico border wall.
That ultimatum, which congressional Democrats have rejected, has prevented Congress from approving legislation to restore funding to about a quarter of the federal government, which closed down partially on December 22 when several agencies’ funds expired for reasons unrelated to the border.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives has left town for a three-day weekend, returning late Tuesday. The Senate was expected to reconvene Friday, but its exact plans were unsettled.
The Republican-controlled Senate, toeing Trump’s line on the wall, has not acted on any of several shutdown-ending bills approved in recent days by the House, all lacking wall funding.
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