Trump shutdown announcement: Democrats reject president's Daca compromise on border security and immigration
'Not a compromise, more hostage taking,' says Chuck Schumer
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump's attempt to strike a deal with Democrats and reopen the federal government appears to have failed, after the terms of his offer were firmly rejected.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer both dismissed the president's compromise, which was unveiled during a live television address.
In a relatively diplomatic address the president offered extensions to protections for certain undocumented immigrants in exchange for $5.7bn (£4.4bn) to go towards his proposed border wall along the US-Mexico border. "Rank and file" Democrats had contributed to the plan, he said, adding that it was aimed at alleviating a "humanitarian crisis".
Mr Trump has been in a standoff with Democrats in Congress for the past 29 days after he refused to sign a government funding bill without the money. The federal government has been partially shut down throughout this period.
Ms Pelosi lambasted the president's offer in a statement released before Mr Trump spoke. "Initial reports make clear that is a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable and in total, do not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people’s lives," she said.
"It is unlikely that any of these provisions alone would pass the House and taken together, they are a non-starter."
In the latest instance of political brinkmanship over the shutdown, Ms Pelosi cancelled her plans to travel by commercial plane to visit US troops in Afghanistan, saying the president had caused a security risk by talking about the trip.
Mr Schumer also rejected Mr Trump's proposal.
"It was the president who single-handedly took away DACA and TPS protections in the first place—offering some protections back in exchange for the wall is not a compromise but more hostage taking," he said.
Around 800,000 federal employees are on leave or working without pay since the shutdown began and nine of the 15 cabinet-level departments have not been funded in almost a month.
The long shutdown may be hitting home for the president. Just 21 of the roughly 80 people who tend to his needs at the White House – from butlers to electricians to chefs – are reporting to work. The rest have been placed on leave.
See below how we covered this story live:
The president told reporters that progress had been made on a trade deal with China, but that he was not considering removing tariffs his administration placed on Chinese imports.
“If we make a deal certainly we would not have sanctions and if we don’t make a deal we will,” he said. “We’ve really had a very extraordinary number of meetings and a deal could very well happen with China. It’s going well. I would say about as well as it could possibly go."
Mr Trump also called news about a lift on US tariffs “false reports”.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Saturday, Donald Trump thanked Special Counsel Robert Mueller for releasing a statement which appeared to downplay the BuzzFeed News report alleging he told his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a Trump Tower deal in Moscow during the 2016 election.
“I appreciate the special counsel coming out with a statement last night. I think it was very appropriate that they did so," he said. "I think that the BuzzFeed piece was a disgrace to our country. It was a disgrace to journalism."
A slate of Democratic mayors, governors and lawmakers are urging the Department of Labor to allow federal employees to receive unemployment benefits.
Meanwhile, a group of senators have signed a letter urging the federal government to allow states to begin delivering unemployment benefits to federal employees who are currently working without pay.
The move arrives as Senator Richard Blumenthal introduces a bill that would provide unemployment benefits to federal employees who are working without pay after being forced back to work by the federal government, Politico reported.
2020 Democratic Candidate Elizabeth Warren spoke on Saturday about the government shutdown, telling supporters, “We are now in the twenty-eighth day of an absolutely unnecessary government shutdown. Can we just be clear on this?”
Reports from multiple outlets appear to confirm the president will propose a compromise to reopen the federal government with extensions for DACA recipients and temporary protected status holders in exchange for his $5.7bn border wall funding.
However, the Wall Street Journal reports his aides are warning Donald Trump could still change his mind on the approach to this potential resolution, as he has on numerous occasions throughout the nation’s longest government shutdown in history.
The report arrives as the president’s “major announcement” from the White House has been pushed back an hour to 4:00 p.m [9:00 p.m. GMT].
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski has defended Democrats refusing to budge on Donald Trump’s border wall demands as the government heads into its 29 day of being shutdown — the longest closure in American history.
The senator told Politico congressional reporter Burgess Everett, “If there is something of substance that comes with his wall request, [Democrats] are willing to listen. But you can’t keep the government shut down while we work on it.”
Dick Durbin has reportedly signalled Democrats will not support Donald Trump’s offer to exchange Daca extensions for $5.7bn in border wall funding.
The news arrives ahead of the president’s “major announcement” he was scheduled to make on Saturday afternoon from the White House.
The announcement was originally scheduled for 3:00 p.m. and has since been pushed back an hour, as advisers to the president reportedly warn he could still change his mind on his approach to reopening the government.
The president is expected to make a “major announcement” in 30 minutes as the government enters its fourth week of being shutdown.
Donald Trump will reportedly propose a compromise to reopen the partially-closed federal government, offering extensions to DACA recipients and TCP holders. The move would come with a request: approving $5.7bn to go towards his campaign promise of a wall stretching the entirety of the US-Mexico border.
It does not appear Democrats are willing to budge on negotiations surrounding a border wall until the government is reopened. The Independent will continue covering the president’s announcement in real-time right here.
House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi has shot down Donald Trump’s reported proposal to reopen the government by exchanging protections for Daca and TPS recipients in exchange for $5.7bn towards building a border wall.
The Democratic leader called the compromise “unacceptable” and “not a good faith effort” just aheads of the president’s announcement scheduled for 4pm [9pm GMT].
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