WASHINGTON: Lawmakers failed to negotiate an end to the government shutdown on Sunday despite a bipartisan effort to a broker a deal, raising the political stakes as federal agencies begin closing at the start of their normal workweek.
Many more Americans will begin feeling the repercussions of a shutdown that officially began at 12.01am Saturday after most government offices had stopped work for the weekend.
Signs of the shutdown were evident at national parks and in some federal agencies. Social Security and most other safety-net programmes were unaffected by the lapse in federal spending authority. Critical government functions continued, with uniformed service members, health inspectors and law enforcement officers set to work without pay.
Lawmakers were mindful that the political stakes would soar Monday morning, when thousands of federal workers would be told to stay home or, in many cases, work without pay. What was still a weekend burst of Washington dysfunction could spiral into a broader crisis with political consequences in November's midterm elections.
The widening disruption intensifies frantic efforts by Republicans and Democrats to blame one another for the deadlock and may harden the determination of lawmakers to gain leverage from the moment.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell scheduled a vote at noon Monday that could end the shutdown just as it begins to take hold, but it’s unclear whether enough Democrats will support an immigration deal he offered late Sunday.
Mr McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York met Sunday after a bipartisan group of more than 20 Senate moderates spent the day trying to work out a funding deal to prevent the shutdown from extending into the week.
But when Mr McConnell stepped to a podium on the Senate floor shortly after 9pm Sunday, it wasn’t to announce a deal. It was to say the Senate would vote Monday to advance a plan that would fund the government through Feb 8.
Mr McConnell offered a concession to Democrats by saying it was his “intention” to permit a Senate a vote on an immigration measure after Feb 8 if the government was still funded.
“Let’s step back from the brink,” Mr McConnell said. “Let’s stop victimising the American people and get back to work on their behalf.”
Democrats, who had sought firmer guarantees from Mr McConnell, weren’t willing to accept his terms. But the move was enough for two key Republicans -- senators Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina -- to drop their prior objections to a stopgap funding package.
Seven more senators would need to change their position in support of Mr McConnell for the government to reopen.
House majority leader Kevin McCarthy of California told colleagues that the chamber will take up whatever the Senate passes, according to a Republican House member. The measure likely will clear the House, the lawmaker said.
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump remained off stage as lawmakers shuttled back and forth to try to reach an agreement. Mr Trump did make some phone calls on Sunday, speaking with the second-ranking Republican leaders in both chambers of Congress about the impasse, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement emailed to reporters Sunday.
White House legislative director Marc Short expressed frustration late Sunday that the shutdown would carry into a third day, and reiterated the White House would not negotiate on immigration while the government remains closed.
“We have yet another day of our troops not getting funded, border agents not getting funded, children not getting insurance, so we are anxious to reopen the government, and as soon as we do we are happy to reopen negotiation on DACA and immigration,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill. “But we are not going to have those negotiations as long as Democrats shut down the government.”
On Capitol Hill, the main action came from a group of bipartisan senators, including Mr Graham, who said they were coalescing behind a plan to fund the government through Feb 8 along with a commitment to quickly take up immigration legislation to protect some young undocumented immigrants from deportation.
Republican senator Susan Collins of Maine said late Sunday that she was hopeful Democrats would get on board to reopen the government, but that it might require fleshing out the offer made by Mr McConnell.
She will reconvene the bipartisan group Monday morning before the next scheduled vote to discuss the path ahead.
Democrats and some Republicans want language protecting people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, programme, as part of a must-pass spending bill to ensure they get signed into law. Some Republicans have opposed such a move, calling it amnesty.
Mr Trump decided in September to end an Obama-era initiative that shielded them from deportation, effective in March, although he said Congress should act to protect them. The US counts 690,000 people currently enrolled in DACA.
For many Democrats, Mr McConnell’s vague promise to hold an immigration vote likely won’t be enough to persuade them to vote to end the shutdown.
“There’ve been a lot of promises to different senators that have not been followed through on by the majority leader, so I would be very leery of anything that wasn’t extremely, extremely clear and detailed about a commitment,” said senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat.
The White House blamed Mr Schumer for the standoff, and said the Trump administration would not discuss immigration legislation until funding for the government was secured.
“The President’s position is clear: We will not negotiate on the status of unlawful immigrants while Senator Schumer and the Democrats hold the government for millions of Americans and our troops hostage,” Mr Sanders said Sunday.
Mr Trump, who could give Republicans political cover to vote for immigration legislation, has been giving conflicting signals. Mr Trump said White House staff were demanding $33 billion for border security when Mr Trump said last week he could make a deal for less than $18 billion.
Mr Graham told reporters on Sunday that Mr Trump’s “heart is right on this issue” but said “every time we have a proposal it is yanked back by staff members”. The White House in turn attacked Mr Graham, who had been cultivating Mr Trump as an ally, illustrating high tensions over the issue and the difficulty of finding a way out.
Mr Graham is “an outlier” and supports legislation “that sides with people in this country illegally and unlawfully instead of our own American citizens,” said White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley.