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:
Donald Trump's offer of legislative relief for DACA recipients has angered both Democrats and figures on the political right.
Ann Coulter, a hardline conservative and a right wing commentator, has attacked the president in a series of tweets over his DACA offer and compared him unfavourably to moderate Republican Jeb Bush.
"Trump proposes amnesty," she wrote. "We voted for Trump and got Jeb!"
Chuck Schumer, the leading Senate Democrat, has described the president's offer on DACA as "one-sided and ineffective".
"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," the New York politician said in a statement on Saturday night.
Mr Schumer's stance echoes Nancy Pelosi's firm rejection of the president's proposal.
Nancy Pelosi has added to her earlier remarks by further criticising the president's statement.
"What we didn’t hear from the President was any sympathy for the federal workers," the House Speaker wrote on Twitter.
An estimated 460,000 federal employees are working without pay during the shutdown, including at the FBI, TSA and other federal law enforcement offices.
Some federal contractors have also discontinued their services, leaving thousands temporarily without work and pay.
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