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| A Shutdown for Weeks? Washington Merely Shrugs | A Shutdown for Weeks? Washington Merely Shrugs |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| As a partial shutdown of the federal government entered its second day on Sunday and the prospect of a quick resolution to a dispute over President Trump’s border wall slipped further out of grip, a normally fevered Washington found itself mustering little more than a collective shrug. | As a partial shutdown of the federal government entered its second day on Sunday and the prospect of a quick resolution to a dispute over President Trump’s border wall slipped further out of grip, a normally fevered Washington found itself mustering little more than a collective shrug. |
| Ringing in the new year with the government shuttered? So be it. | Ringing in the new year with the government shuttered? So be it. |
| That sense of resignation — and the decision to lay down political cudgels mere hours into the shutdown — was all the more striking when compared with the modern playbook for such crises, perfected in the 1990s but already put to use twice this year: use every tool at your disposal to pin blame on the other side, and then maximize the political pain to get your way. | That sense of resignation — and the decision to lay down political cudgels mere hours into the shutdown — was all the more striking when compared with the modern playbook for such crises, perfected in the 1990s but already put to use twice this year: use every tool at your disposal to pin blame on the other side, and then maximize the political pain to get your way. |
| Instead, on Saturday, with Christmas approaching and the president unmoved, the Senate simply adjourned, choosing to leave the political battlefield unoccupied until at least Thursday afternoon. Negotiations between Senate Democrats and the White House essentially ceased on Sunday, with the two sides still at loggerheads over Mr. Trump’s demand for a $5 billion down payment for a wall along the southern border. | Instead, on Saturday, with Christmas approaching and the president unmoved, the Senate simply adjourned, choosing to leave the political battlefield unoccupied until at least Thursday afternoon. Negotiations between Senate Democrats and the White House essentially ceased on Sunday, with the two sides still at loggerheads over Mr. Trump’s demand for a $5 billion down payment for a wall along the southern border. |
| And though a few Democrats and Republicans traded obligatory barbs on the Sunday morning talk shows, some Republicans had a hard time keeping up the fire on Democrats after Mr. Trump’s 11th-hour decision late last week to turn away from a bipartisan agreement in the Senate to punt the issue into the new year. | And though a few Democrats and Republicans traded obligatory barbs on the Sunday morning talk shows, some Republicans had a hard time keeping up the fire on Democrats after Mr. Trump’s 11th-hour decision late last week to turn away from a bipartisan agreement in the Senate to punt the issue into the new year. |
| “This is really much ado about very little,” Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We have an impulsive president; we know that,” he conceded, lamenting that the shutdown was “taking away focus from where it should be, from a really strong economy.” | “This is really much ado about very little,” Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We have an impulsive president; we know that,” he conceded, lamenting that the shutdown was “taking away focus from where it should be, from a really strong economy.” |
| Senator Bob Corker, a retiring Republican of Tennessee, has made no secret that he views the shutdown as an unnecessary and illogical farce, calling it, on CNN’s “State of the Union,” “a made-up fight, so the president can look like he’s fighting.” | Senator Bob Corker, a retiring Republican of Tennessee, has made no secret that he views the shutdown as an unnecessary and illogical farce, calling it, on CNN’s “State of the Union,” “a made-up fight, so the president can look like he’s fighting.” |
| “Candidly, it’s juvenile,” he said. | “Candidly, it’s juvenile,” he said. |
| Even Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, one of Mr. Trump’s staunchest allies, who helped push him to reject the bipartisan agreement in the Senate to avert the shutdown, described the dispute as essentially “a rounding error” in government funding and cautioned against poking too hard into Democrats’ eyes. | Even Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, one of Mr. Trump’s staunchest allies, who helped push him to reject the bipartisan agreement in the Senate to avert the shutdown, described the dispute as essentially “a rounding error” in government funding and cautioned against poking too hard into Democrats’ eyes. |
| “I don’t think that raising the political pain is an appropriate negotiating strategy,” he said. | “I don’t think that raising the political pain is an appropriate negotiating strategy,” he said. |
| If there is any shift from the pugilistic tone that has defined Mr. Trump’s Washington for two years, it seems to be at least in part attributable to exhaustion and the quiet conclusion among Republicans that there may yet be a bridge too far when it comes to following the president’s lead. | If there is any shift from the pugilistic tone that has defined Mr. Trump’s Washington for two years, it seems to be at least in part attributable to exhaustion and the quiet conclusion among Republicans that there may yet be a bridge too far when it comes to following the president’s lead. |
| But there are other more tangible reasons as well. While some 800,000 federal employees from nine of the 15 cabinet-level departments will be deprived pay — either working without it or sidelined from work altogether — Congress, unlike in past cases, had already passed bills funding three-quarters of the federal government, including the Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments. That considerably reduces the impact of a prolonged shutdown. | But there are other more tangible reasons as well. While some 800,000 federal employees from nine of the 15 cabinet-level departments will be deprived pay — either working without it or sidelined from work altogether — Congress, unlike in past cases, had already passed bills funding three-quarters of the federal government, including the Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments. That considerably reduces the impact of a prolonged shutdown. |
| At the same time that Mr. Trump has tried to build support for his insistence on the wall, he has torn open a deep rift with fellow Republicans over his pullout from Syria and drawdown in Afghanistan, which many in the party and in cable news control rooms have deemed a more consequential break. | At the same time that Mr. Trump has tried to build support for his insistence on the wall, he has torn open a deep rift with fellow Republicans over his pullout from Syria and drawdown in Afghanistan, which many in the party and in cable news control rooms have deemed a more consequential break. |
| And, unlike in earlier shutdowns, when lawmakers have worked through the night to try to bridge policy differences, Democrats on Capitol Hill see little reason to compromise, given that the president went back on his word to avert the shutdown and that they will gain even more negotiating leverage come Jan. 3, when they take control of the House. | |
| Mr. Trump has made a somewhat bigger effort to fan the flames, though with mixed results. He canceled a holiday vacation to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, and on Saturday convened a handful of the archconservative lawmakers who had pushed him into the shutdown for a private lunch in the White House residence. | Mr. Trump has made a somewhat bigger effort to fan the flames, though with mixed results. He canceled a holiday vacation to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, and on Saturday convened a handful of the archconservative lawmakers who had pushed him into the shutdown for a private lunch in the White House residence. |
| “He is not going to yield,” Mr. Meadows, who attended the lunch, said in an interview. “At some point he in some way is going to get money to support our border. He is resolved in that, and I looked him in the eyes yesterday, and I can tell you that he is firm.” | “He is not going to yield,” Mr. Meadows, who attended the lunch, said in an interview. “At some point he in some way is going to get money to support our border. He is resolved in that, and I looked him in the eyes yesterday, and I can tell you that he is firm.” |
| But by Sunday, increasingly isolated inside the White House with no public schedule, Mr. Trump had outwardly moved on to other issues. On Twitter, he announced the expedited departure of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, said he had spoken with the Turkish president about Syria, expressed condolences to tsunami victims in Indonesia, said the news media had not given him his due for criminal justice and farm legislation, and mocked Mr. Corker. | But by Sunday, increasingly isolated inside the White House with no public schedule, Mr. Trump had outwardly moved on to other issues. On Twitter, he announced the expedited departure of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, said he had spoken with the Turkish president about Syria, expressed condolences to tsunami victims in Indonesia, said the news media had not given him his due for criminal justice and farm legislation, and mocked Mr. Corker. |
| Mr. Trump, who calls himself a master dealmaker, has made no effort to directly negotiate with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Senate Democrat, who would have to agree to any wall funding. Instead, he has left the job to aides, dispatching one of them, Mick Mulvaney, the budget director and incoming chief of staff, to appear on television on Sunday morning to tamp down expectations that a deal could be coming anytime soon. | Mr. Trump, who calls himself a master dealmaker, has made no effort to directly negotiate with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Senate Democrat, who would have to agree to any wall funding. Instead, he has left the job to aides, dispatching one of them, Mick Mulvaney, the budget director and incoming chief of staff, to appear on television on Sunday morning to tamp down expectations that a deal could be coming anytime soon. |
| “It’s very possible the shutdown will go beyond the 28th and into the new Congress,” Mr. Mulvaney said on ABC’s “This Week.” | “It’s very possible the shutdown will go beyond the 28th and into the new Congress,” Mr. Mulvaney said on ABC’s “This Week.” |
| As the comments suggested, negotiations between the White House and Senate Democrats have delivered nothing fruitful in the last several days. | As the comments suggested, negotiations between the White House and Senate Democrats have delivered nothing fruitful in the last several days. |
| On Saturday, Mr. Mulvaney and Vice President Mike Pence asked Democrats to support a deal that would include about $2.5 billion — half of Mr. Trump’s public demand — for border security, including new fencing, and $400 million for other immigration measures, according to people familiar with the offer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. | On Saturday, Mr. Mulvaney and Vice President Mike Pence asked Democrats to support a deal that would include about $2.5 billion — half of Mr. Trump’s public demand — for border security, including new fencing, and $400 million for other immigration measures, according to people familiar with the offer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. |
| “We moved off of the 5, and we hope they move up from their 1.3,” Mr. Mulvaney said, referring to previous offers from Senate Democrats for $1.3 billion for border security. | “We moved off of the 5, and we hope they move up from their 1.3,” Mr. Mulvaney said, referring to previous offers from Senate Democrats for $1.3 billion for border security. |
| However, Democrats, while generally supportive of enhanced border measures but opposed to a wall, are finding little reason to budge because they see little political risk to anyone other than Mr. Trump over the shutdown. They goaded him into admitting as much at a White House meeting this month. | However, Democrats, while generally supportive of enhanced border measures but opposed to a wall, are finding little reason to budge because they see little political risk to anyone other than Mr. Trump over the shutdown. They goaded him into admitting as much at a White House meeting this month. |
| “It really is in the president’s hands to decide,” Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said on “Meet the Press.” “He says it is an issue of border security. I think we know better it’s an issue of his own political insecurity. When the right-wingers start screaming at him, he just backs off and dissembles in front of us.” | “It really is in the president’s hands to decide,” Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said on “Meet the Press.” “He says it is an issue of border security. I think we know better it’s an issue of his own political insecurity. When the right-wingers start screaming at him, he just backs off and dissembles in front of us.” |
| Under the current circumstances, any deal to reopen the government will almost certainly not be voted on until Thursday, when the Senate is scheduled to reconvene. | Under the current circumstances, any deal to reopen the government will almost certainly not be voted on until Thursday, when the Senate is scheduled to reconvene. |
| More likely at this point, Democratic and Republican aides said, is that the government will simply remain shuttered until Jan. 3, when Democrats take over the House and, most likely, elect Nancy Pelosi to be speaker. At that point, Ms. Pelosi could use her majority to approve a measure to fund the government for a year without additional allocations for a wall. | More likely at this point, Democratic and Republican aides said, is that the government will simply remain shuttered until Jan. 3, when Democrats take over the House and, most likely, elect Nancy Pelosi to be speaker. At that point, Ms. Pelosi could use her majority to approve a measure to fund the government for a year without additional allocations for a wall. |
| That would shift pressure onto Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, who would have to decide whether to take up the House bill over the president’s objections or dig in and fight. And it would leave Mr. Trump further on his heels. | That would shift pressure onto Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, who would have to decide whether to take up the House bill over the president’s objections or dig in and fight. And it would leave Mr. Trump further on his heels. |
| That may explain why Mr. McConnell has been uncharacteristically restrained toward Democrats in recent days. Stopped by reporters on Saturday, Mr. McConnell, who controls the Senate floor, said that “the talks that matter” were the ones between the White House and Senate Democrats. | That may explain why Mr. McConnell has been uncharacteristically restrained toward Democrats in recent days. Stopped by reporters on Saturday, Mr. McConnell, who controls the Senate floor, said that “the talks that matter” were the ones between the White House and Senate Democrats. |
| “I’m pulling for them,” he added. | “I’m pulling for them,” he added. |