Government shutdown - live: Trump links rising Latino support to border wall battle as Republicans seeks to break impasse
Measure intended to break budget impasse has little chance of passing swiftly
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Your support makes all the difference.Democrats and Republicans appear no closer to ending the partial government shutdown which has dragged on for 32 days.
Senate Republicans released a measure around US president Donald Trump's proposal for breaking the budget impasse, with his demand for $5.7bn (£4.4bn) to build a wall on the US-Mexico border all but guaranteeing Democratic opposition.
As the shutdown dragged through its fifth week, thousands of government workers face the prospect of another missed paycheck.
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Welcome to The Independent's coverage of the US government shutdown, which entered its 32nd day on Tuesday.
Thousands of government workers face the prospect of another missed paycheck.
Funding for US president Donald Trump's wall on the US-Mexico border is at the centre of the dispute.
Voting in Congress over the Senate Republicans' measure to break the deadlock was not expected to unfold until later in the week.
It seems doubtful the 1,300-page measure, dubbed "End The Shutdown And Secure The Border Act," has any chance of passing swiftly.
Senate Republicans hold a 53-47 majority but would need Democrats to reach the usual 60-vote threshold for bills to advance.
Not a single Democrat publicly expressed support for President Trump's proposal since he announced it over the weekend.
Over the weekend, President Trump lashed out at opponents who dismissed the plan he'd billed as a compromise.
On Sunday, he branded house speaker Nancy Pelosi a "radical" and said she was acting "irrationally".
The president also tried to fend off criticism from the right, as conservatives accused him of embracing "amnesty" for immigrants in the country illegally.
Mr Trump offered on Saturday to temporarily extend protections for young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children and those fleeing disaster zones in exchange for $5.7bn (£4.4bn) for his border wall.
But Democrats said the three-year proposal didn't go nearly far enough.
"No, Amnesty is not a part of my offer," Mr Trump tweeted Sunday, noting he'd offered temporary, three-year extensions — not permanent relief. But he added: "Amnesty will be used only on a much bigger deal, whether on immigration or something else."
House Democrats this week are pushing ahead with voting on their own legislation to re-open the government and add $1bn (£775m) for border security — including 75 more immigration judges and infrastructure improvements — but no funding for the wall.
President Trump later tweeted: "Democrats are kidding themselves (they don't really believe it!) if they say you can stop Crime, Drugs, Human Trafficking and Caravans without a Wall or Steel Barrier. Stop playing games and give America the Security it deserves. A Humanitarian Crisis!"
President Trump sought to head off criticism from conservatives by insisting his proposals did not involve amnesty for undocumented immigrants. He implied he could launch a "big push" to deport millions of illegal immigrants if he does not get funding for his border wall.
Federal workers have turned to pawnbrokers for short-term loans during the longest government shutdown in US history.
Meanwhile, the impact of the shutdown — the longest ever — continued to ripple across the nation as it stretched into its 32nd day on Tuesday.
The Transportation Security Administration said the percentage of its airport screeners missing work hit 10 per cent on Sunday — up from 3.1 per cent on the comparable Sunday a year ago.
The screeners, who have been working without pay, have been citing financial hardship as the reason they can't report to work. Even so, the agency said it screened 1.78 million passengers on Sunday with only 6.9 per cent having to wait 15 minutes or longer to get through security.
The shutdown had also threatened to disrupt plans for an annual Martin Luther King Jr Day service at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the civil rights leader was co-pastor with his father from 1960 until his assassination in 1968.
The site is run by the National Park Service and had been closed. But a grant from Delta Air Lines is keeping the church and associated sites, including the home where King was born, open through 3 February.
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