Partial Government Shutdown Expected to Last into January

As the partial government shutdown enters its 8th day, there was no sign that Congress and the White House were any closer to coming toward a resolution of the budget fight. Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump's incoming chief of staff didn't sound hopeful about a quick resolution. 

"The discussions have broken down," said Mulvaney to reporters at the White House last night. "We do expect this to go on for a while."

Congress is adjourned until New Year's Eve. 

President Trump was at the White House one day after threatening to shut down the U.S. border with Mexico if Congress didn't approve the funding to build his border wall. Trump has made such threats before, but did not offer any details on how his administration might actually close the border with Mexico. 

Trump tweeted about the shutdown Saturday morning. 

“I am in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come on over and make a deal on Border Security,” Trump tweeted Saturday morning. “From what I hear, they are spending so much time on Presidential Harassment that they have little time left for things like stopping crime and our military!”

Many in Washington believe that the shutdown won't be resolved until at least Jan. 3, when a new Congress is seated and Democrats take over the House of Representatives and Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is selected as their new speaker. 

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi says Democrats won't consider any offers until they're publicly endorsed by Trump. 

"While we await the president’s public proposal, Democrats have made it clear that, under a House Democratic majority, we will vote swiftly to re-open government on Day One," spokesman Drew Hammill said in a statement.

At issue is $5 billion in funding for the border wall, which was included in a short-term funding bill passed by the House before the recess. The Senate refused to pass the bill. Mulvaney said the White House was willing to accept far less than the initially proposed $5 billion for the border wall, but did not specify what that offer had been. 

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