A temporary government shutdown was all but guaranteed Friday night as Congress struggled to break a stalemate over money for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.
Parts of the government will close if Congress cannot pass seven spending bills by midnight Friday. Lawmakers scrambled through the afternoon and into the early evening to break an impasse over whether to fund the barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border.
✅ A partial government shutdown is all but guaranteed as lawmakers anticipate no spending deal before a midnight Friday deadline to pass funding.
✅ A dispute over President Donald Trump’s demand for $5 billion in border wall funding derailed last-second efforts to avoid the closure.
✅ Democrats are trying to strike a spending deal with the White House.
But the House adjourned at about 7 p.m. ET Friday without passing legislation that the Senate supports, and the chamber is not due back until noon Saturday. Then the Senate adjourned at about 8 p.m. ET without approving a spending bill that the House backs. Senators are expected back at noon Saturday, as well.
The deadlock leaves Washington almost certain to let funding lapse for the third time this year. A closure could last through Christmas and into the new year, past when Democrats take control of the House on Jan. 3. It would send the unified Republican government out in a swirl of chaos that marked Trump’s first two years in the White House.
Still, lawmakers could move quickly to pass spending legislation this weekend if leaders reach an agreement. House Republicans told members they would get 24 hours of notice before a vote.
Shortly before 6 p.m. ET Friday, the GOP-controlled Senate voted 48-47 to advance a House-passed bill to keep the government running through Feb. 8 and put more than $5 billion toward the president’s wall. Vice President Mike Pence had to break a tie after a vote that lasted five hours and 18 minutes, the longest in Senate history, according to NBC News.
Republicans decided to move the bill forward even though it would have failed in a final vote. Democrats have unequivocally said they will not approve money for the border barrier. Instead, lawmakers aim to use the House-passed bill to “preserve maximum flexibility” as Democrats try to strike a deal with the White House on a spending bill that can pass both the Senate and House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
“When an agreement is reached, it will receive a vote here on the Senate floor,” he said. Both Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., agreed to advance the measure with the assurance that lawmakers would next vote once they had a plan that could get through both chambers of Congress.
It left negotiators limited time to strike a deal before the shutdown deadline. Trump has promised to “take the mantle” and be “proud” if funding lapses as he tries to secure money for the wall. House Republicans, knowing funding for the barrier would not get through both chambers, approved their bill Thursday after Trump threatened to veto the Senate-passed measure without wall money.
As the procedural Senate vote remained open for hours Friday, Pence, incoming White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Trump’s advisor and son-in-law Jared Kusher navigated the Capitol trying to make progress toward a deal. They met with Schumer at the White House’s request, a spokesman for the Democrat said.
Speaking after the Senate advanced the House legislation, Schumer said he offered the White House three proposals to keep the government running. One was the bill the Senate passed Wednesday, to fund the government through Feb. 8 without wall money. Trump previously threatened to veto the measure, which caused House Republicans to abandon it Thursday and instead pass a bill with funds for the barrier included.
The other two offers are six appropriations bills paired with a continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security, or seven continuing resolutions.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill also discussed the possibility of passing $1.6 billion in border security money to break the stalemate, according to reports. However, House conservatives — Trump allies who rallied him against the Senate’s previous short-term funding bill — reportedly oppose such a deal.
Democrats, whose votes are needed to reach the necessary 60 in the Senate, have repeatedly said they will not approve funds for the barrier. Republicans hold a 51-49 majority.
As lawmakers and his administration officials tried to dodge a shutdown at the Capitol, Trump tweeted a drawing of what he called a “Steel Slat Barrier” he hopes to build. It showed thin metal poles with spikes at their tips. He wrote: The structure is “totally effective while at the same time beautiful!”
After Trump huddled with key Senate Republicans on Friday afternoon, both parties appeared to dig in more deeply. Following the meeting, the president said the chance of a shutdown is “very good.” In the afternoon, McConnell wholeheartedly endorsed the House legislation, only two days after he supported a bill without wall money.
The Kentucky Republican argued the “political winds” on the left made Democrats reluctant to support a bill that “would be quite uncontroversial in a more normal political moment.” Moments before McConnell made those comments, Schumer insisted Democrats would not fund the wall.
“There are not votes in the Senate for an expensive taxpayer-funded border wall. So, President Trump, you will not get your wall,” he said. “Abandon your shutdown strategy. You are not getting your wall today, next week or on Jan. 3 when Democrats take control of the House.”
Funding for nine departments, including Homeland Security, Justice and State, will lapse after midnight. While essential law enforcement officers and other employees would stay on the job, many would not get paid during the shutdown.
As lawmakers tried to find a way forward Friday afternoon, McConnell held up a button to reporters reading “Senate Cranky Coalition.” He called it the “unanimous position” of the Senate GOP conference at the time.
In a string of tweets Friday, Trump again laid out his case for the barrier and pressured Democrats to back it. He admitted Democrats “will probably vote against Border Security and the Wall even though they know it is DESPERATELY NEEDED.” The party has called the wall proposal inhumane, and even many Republicans have joined it in calling the possible barrier ineffective.
