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US government shutdown looms over border wall row | US government shutdown looms over border wall row |
(about 2 hours later) | |
A partial US government shutdown is now just hours away after US lawmakers failed to break a budget impasse. | |
Mr Trump, who has to sign off any deal, is insisting at least $5bn (£4bn) in government funding be included to help build his long-promised US border wall. | |
Lawmakers adjourned from last-minute talk efforts on Friday evening. | |
Without a new agreement in place, funding for about a quarter of all US federal agencies will lapse at 00:00 local time (05:00 GMT Saturday). | Without a new agreement in place, funding for about a quarter of all US federal agencies will lapse at 00:00 local time (05:00 GMT Saturday). |
It means the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Agriculture, State, and Justice will begin to shutdown and federal national parks and forests will also close. | It means the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Agriculture, State, and Justice will begin to shutdown and federal national parks and forests will also close. |
The partial shutdown, the third of 2018, is set to impact hundreds of thousands of workers. | |
In a video address published on Mr Trump's Twitter account shortly before the shutdown was due to begin, the president again insisted the onus was on the Democrats to resolve the closure. | |
What is the row about? | What is the row about? |
On Wednesday, a stopgap spending bill was passed in order to keep federal agencies open until 8 February - but the agreement did not include funding for Mr Trump's wall. | On Wednesday, a stopgap spending bill was passed in order to keep federal agencies open until 8 February - but the agreement did not include funding for Mr Trump's wall. |
After a rare backlash from his supporters and hard-line Republicans, Mr Trump dug his heels in over the issue and insisted funds for the wall must be included for him to sign it off. | |
Under current rules, spending bills are approved in the House of Representatives with a simple majority vote. Mr Trump's party currently dominate that chamber, but the Democrats are set to take control of it in January. | Under current rules, spending bills are approved in the House of Representatives with a simple majority vote. Mr Trump's party currently dominate that chamber, but the Democrats are set to take control of it in January. |
The House has now approved $5.7bn (£4.5bn) of funding for the wall, but before the spending bill reaches the president it also needs to be passed by 60 votes in the Senate - where Republicans only hold 51 seats. | |
On Friday Mr Trump shared a graphic of his steel-slat wall design for the wall. | |
Later, he posted a video regarding the immigration row, where he said it was "very dangerous out there". | |
His address, which was spliced with footage that appeared to show immigrants pushing down border fencing, cautioned about drugs and violent gang members entering the country illegally. | |
"We don't want 'em in the United States, We don't want 'em in our country," Mr Trump said. | |
"The only thing that's going to stop that is great border security with a wall, or a slat fence, or whatever you wanna call it." | |
A strengthened southern border wall was a key election promise for Mr Trump. | |
During his campaign he insisted he would make Mexico pay for it, but the country has refused. | During his campaign he insisted he would make Mexico pay for it, but the country has refused. |
The Democrats have also remained resolute that US taxpayers should not pay for his plan. | |
This week Mr Trump's supporters created a GoFundMe for the building process - an appeal that has so far raised more than $13m (£10m) in just four days. | This week Mr Trump's supporters created a GoFundMe for the building process - an appeal that has so far raised more than $13m (£10m) in just four days. |
What will happen now? | What will happen now? |
After last-ditch talks failed to reach a resolution on Friday night, members of Congress left Capitol Hill but are expected to return on Saturday. | |
In his video, Mr Trump said "there is nothing" his Republican party can do about the shutdown and said "we need the Democrats to give us their votes" to resolve it. | |
"Call it a Democrat shutdown, call it whatever you want but we need their help to get this approved," he said, before urging a bipartisan effort. | |
Mr Trump had earlier suggested Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell should invoke the so-called "nuclear option" to break the impasse. | |
The option would mean the bill could be approved in the Senate with a simple majority instead of the 60 currently required - bypassing the need for bipartisan support. | |
But Mr McConnell has repeatedly refused in the past to invoke such an extreme legislative manoeuvre. | But Mr McConnell has repeatedly refused in the past to invoke such an extreme legislative manoeuvre. |
A number of Republican senators on Friday also made clear their staunch opposition to the proposal. | |
The midnight closure will be the third time US federal funding has lapsed so far this year. |