Mulvaney’s public remarks, made on Fox News, further show that the president is prepared to have a shutdown that lasts through the holidays.
Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s incoming acting chief of staff and one of three senior administration officials who spent Friday and Saturday on Capitol Hill trying to broker a deal between Democrats, Republicans and the president over border wall funding, revealed Sunday that the partial government shutdown will likely last “into the new Congress.”
Mulvaney, speaking with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, said he gave Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, a “counter-offer” on Saturday below Trump’s $5 billion demand for border wall funding and is “waiting to hear back.” Multiple reports have suggested that figure was somewhere around $2.5 billion.
“It’s very possible that this shutdown will go beyond the 28th and into the new Congress,” Mulvaney said, who indicated that negotiations will not “move very quickly.”
“The ball is in their court,” he added, referring to Democrats.
The new Congress will convene on January 3,2019. The House and Senate adjourned on Saturday until Thursday at 4 p.m., meaning the current shutdown will last at least until December 27.
