The federal shutdown moved into its second day with no sign of White House intervention and Congressional negotiations stalemated. A scheduled vote at 1 a.m. Monday that may or may not open federal offices only adds to the sense of chaos.
As a government shutdown entered its second day Sunday, Congress and President Trump were poised to face deepening criticism unless they made a deal to reopen the government before the workweek begins.
A rare weekend schedule continued on Capitol Hill, with voting possible, but negotiations over a possible stopgap measure appeared stalemated along partisan lines.
Uncertainty over whether the shutdown would extend into Monday and beyond created hardship for many of the 2.3 million federal employees who don’t yet know if their offices will be shuttered and if they will lose pay.
It was either the Trump Shutdown or the Schumer Shutdown, depending on whether the blame came from Republicans backing the president or from Democrats standing with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).
President Trump weighed in early Sunday by blaming Democrats for the impasse and urging Senate Republicans to change the rules to allow a bill to pass with a simple majority, not the 60 votes now required.
« If stalemate continues, » he wrote on Twitter, Republicans should use the « Nuclear Option » to change Senate rules and try to pass a long-term spending bill with a simple majority.
But after a day of finger-pointing but little apparent progress on Saturday, there was no sign early Sunday of any executive intervention by the White House to end the partisan standoff.
One proposal, to temporarily fund the government through Feb. 8, was being pushed for a Sunday vote by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
But without the consent of all senators, complicated Senate rules won’t allow a roll call until 1 a.m. Monday, adding to the sense of chaos and confusion.
« Shutdowns have consequences, » McConnell told senators as he closed Saturday’s session without a resolution to the standoff.
Communications broke down between Trump and Schumer after the minority leader complained that the president backed out of an emerging deal before the midnight Friday deadline to fund the government, and said it was like negotiating « with Jell-O. »
Instead, rank-and-file lawmakers began taking action on their own.
A bipartisan group of 19 senators met behind closed doors to try to hammer out a compromise, and a similarly mixed group of Republicans and Democrats huddled in the House. But those efforts have yet to produce a solution.
The shutdown struck at 12:01 a.m. Saturday when Democrats in the Senate, joined by a handful of Republicans, blocked a House-passed bill to temporarily fund the government for four weeks.
The federal government has been running on a series of four stopgap funding bills since the 2018 fiscal year began on Oct. 1 because Congress cannot agree on budget levels.
Republicans, who are the majority in the House and Senate, want increased military funding, and Democrats insist on parity for other federal operations.
The GOP hold on the Senate is slim, just 51 seats, when 60 votes are typically needed to break a filibuster and pass most legislation. So Democrats, who hold 49 seats, used their leverage to demand concessions on budgeting, immigration and other issues.
Tops on the Democrats’ priority list is legislation to protect some 700,000 « Dreamers, » immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, from deportation before the administration ends the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows them two-year permits to work and live in the United States.
The young immigrants have flooded Capitol Hill offices since Trump announced he would end the Obama-era DACA program in March and tasked Congress to develop a solution.
But Trump, and Republicans, also want a massive overhaul of immigration law to reduce the flow of legal migrants as well as stem the flow of illegal immigration. Democrats say the White House demands go beyond the outlines of an initial, more limited deal to protect Dreamers in exchange for more border security.
Immigration advocates fear deportations of the Dreamers, many of whom have grown up as Americans, will rise as the temporary permits expire and the administration fights to end DACA in court.
« You ask me how they’re doing? I think they are terrified, » Rep. Luis Correa (D-Santa Ana) said of the young immigrants. « This is not a scenario anybody expected. »
Lawmakers on both sides also want to extend a Childrens Health Insurance Program, provide more disaster assistance to states hit hard by hurricanes and wildfires, and focus on other issues that have bipartisan backing.
More immediately, they are trying to insulate themselves from voter blowback.
Some are promising to donate their congressional salaries during the shutdown and others have introduced bills to ensure some government services — especially pay and benefits for military troops — are not disrupted.
lisa.mascaro@latimes.com
@LisaMascaro
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