House votes to reopen government, sending bill to Trump

The House on Friday passed a three-week continuing resolution (CR) to temporarily reopen the government by unanimous consent on Friday, moving to end the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

The stopgap measure, meant to provide time for the House and Senate to conference on a proposal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, does not include funding for President Trump’s border wall.

{mosads}Its passage comes on the 35th day of the partial government shutdown, after negotiators struggled for weeks to find a path forward as both parties dug in on their respective positions on whether funding should be provided for the barrier along the southern border.

Trump ultimately reversed his position that he would not sign any spending bill that didn’t provide wall funding, providing Democrats — who vowed they would not negotiate on border security until after the government reopened — with a significant win.

In a press conference in the Rose Garden on Friday afternoon, Trump said he was “very proud to announce today that we have reached a deal to end the shutdown.” 

But he cautioned the government could be shut down again next month if the bipartisan conference committee fails to put forward a proposal on border security allowing for the construction of physical barriers. Trump said he is also not ruling out the possibility of circumventing Congress in building the wall, hinting that he might declare a national emergency.

“The government will either shut down again on Feb. 15” or “I will use my powers to build wall,” he said. 

Democrats lashed out at Trump after the announcement, saying the new agreement didn’t including anything they hadn’t been willing to vote on weeks ago.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had expressed their growing frustrations ahead of the deal’s announcement, with members highlighting the impact it was having on their constituents. 

House GOP leadership accused Democrats of failing to take negotiations seriously, while Democrats alleged Republicans were “holding the government hostage” over a partisan priority. 

Both parties attempted to get members across the aisle to buck party lines as they struggled in the messaging battle over who bears responsibility for the shutdown. 

The consequences of the shutdown were beginning to escalate, with federal workers having missed two paychecks and major airports experiencing delays due to the number of air traffic control employees calling out of work. 

The CR, which earlier passed the Senate by voice vote, now heads to the president’s desk. 

The emergence of the three-week CR plan comes after a group of moderate senators discussed the idea for weeks and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called the president about the proposal on Thursday.

Trump had indicated that he did not support reopening the government without a deal on the U.S.-Mexico border wall. But in a sign that he was softening his position, he said Thursday he would accept “pro-rated” funding in exchange for a short-term bill.