Thousands of federal employees are still in limbo as the partial government shutdown goes into its eleventh day.
In a new interview, President Trump is not backing down from his demand for border wall funding, which Democrats refuse to offer.
President Trump says he’s ready to negotiate the end of the partial government shutdown, “they can come over right now, they could’ve come over anytime.”
In an interview with Fox News, the President invited Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to the White House. He also stayed firm on his demand for border wall funding.
“We have to have border security and the wall is a big part of border security. The biggest part,” President Trump said.
Democrats take control of the House on Thursday and Pelosi — the likely House Speaker — is expected to quickly pass legislation to end the shutdown.
But the bill includes only $1.3 billion for border security, and since President Trump wants $5 billion for a border wall, the White House says he will reject it.
“I hear so much about the wall is old fashion. It’s not old fashion. The wall is 100%t foolproof,” President Trump said.
He made his point clear throughout Monday, tweeting seven times about the wall.
Sen. Schumer and Rep. Pelosi released a joint statement that said in part “While President Trump drags the nation into Week Two of the Trump Shutdown and sits in the White House and tweets, without offering any plan that can pass both chambers of Congress, Democrats are taking action to lead our country out of this mess.”
Until a deal is reached, one quarter of the federal government will remain closed and 800,000 employees will either stay home or work without pay.
Whatever Democrats pass on Thursday is unlikely to go very far. The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, warned *his* chamber won’t send any bill to the president that he won’t sign.
-Tom Hanson reporting for CBS News
