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For instance, more than 80% of National Park Service staff would be furloughed, as would 95% of Housing and Urban Development Department employees, according to information released by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Furloughed employees are generally allowed four hours to clean off their desks, put up “out of office” notices and turn in mobile devices, according to agency contingency plans. After that, workers aren’t supposed to send email or do any type of work until their office reopens.

More than 420,000 people are set to be deemed essential workers, such as air-traffic controllers, prison guards, weather-service forecasters and food-safety inspectors, and would continue coming to work. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Forest Service firefighters, Border patrol agents and TSA workers would also keep working through any temporary closure. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe wouldn’t be affected.

Congress in the past has voted to pay both furloughed and essential workers’ back pay once funding is restored.

A shutdown wouldn’t affect the mail or the delivery of Social Security checks. Some national parks may still be open to visitors, but workers could stop providing visitor services, including trash collection, campground operations and road maintenance. Visitor facilities—including restrooms—will be closed.

The Republican governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, said Friday that the trails and tourist facilities at the Grand Canyon will remain open in the event of a shutdown, due to a plan by the state to temporarily fund federal park operations.

Museums in Washington, D.C., are set to be affected by the shutdown. The Smithsonian said in tweets Friday that its museums and the National Zoo will be open through Jan. 1 no matter what using available funds, but will be closed Christmas day as usual. It said it would provide an update beyond that “as soon as we know.”

The agencies facing a shutdown include the Justice Department; Homeland Security Department; State Department; Housing and Urban Development Department; Transportation Department; Treasury Department; Agriculture Department; Commerce Department; and the Interior Department.

Many federal agencies and programs, including the Defense Department, Energy Department, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health, are fully funded and won’t be affected by the shutdown, and operations would continue as usual.

Agencies facing shutdowns have released some details on their plans.

At the Internal Revenue Service, which is preparing for the start of the tax-filing season in the coming weeks, nearly 10,000 employees—or 12.5% of the agency’s workforce—will continue working on tax collection and investigations, but the agency wouldn’t process any refunds until after the shutdown ends. The IRS may have to tweak its plans if a shutdown drags into late January or early February, when Americans start filing their 2018 tax returns.

At HUD, emergency maintenance requests at HUD-owned properties would continue, as well as urgent housing services for homeless people and routine Section 8 housing payments. But housing counseling services will stop, and mortgage loan processing may be delayed.

Some agencies may have unspent funds that will allow them to keep operating for a brief period after the shutdown begins.

Federal courts, for example, are able to continue operating for some time using fees they collect. At the State Department, consular services would continue as long as there is money available, but passport agencies may be closed if they are located in a government building affected by the shutdown.

A partial shutdown wouldn’t change the release date of December jobs report, due out Jan. 4, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.

Because President Trump declared Christmas Eve a federal holiday along with Christmas Day, the effects of the shutdown may not be noticeable until next Wednesday. Federal workers are still expected to show up to work that day, when they will receive notices from supervisors informing them whether they will be furloughed, or whether they need to keep working.

Write to Kate Davidson at kate.davidson@wsj.com

Source Article from https://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-agencies-prepare-for-a-possible-shutdown-11545415407

Funding for a slew of federal agencies lapsed at midnight after Congress and the White House failed to pass a spending package amid a bruising fight over border wall funding.

The missed deadline means nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies will close just as the Christmas break begins. But it does not mean the whole federal government is affected: Only about a quarter of the government is actually shutting down.

The Senate planned to reconvene at noon Saturday to continue talks.

Congress had been facing a Friday deadline to fund a portion of the government or risk the partial shutdown. But even though negotiations continue, lawmakers left the Capitol on Friday without a deal to fund the government by midnight’s deadline.

Over the last few weeks, Republicans and Democrats had been at a standstill over the president’s demands for $5 billion to fund the border wall.

“This is our only chance that we’ll ever have, in our opinion, because of the world and the way it breaks out, to get great border security,” President Trump said earlier Friday. Democrats will take control of the House on Jan. 3, and they oppose major funding for wall construction.

“This is our only chance that we’ll ever have, in our opinion, because of the world and the way it breaks out, to get great border security.”

— President Trump

Much of the drama Friday took place in the Senate: After keeping the vote open for five hours to secure enough support, the Senate finally advanced a House-approved spending bill with $5.7 billion for a border wall, after Vice President Mike Pence went to the Capitol to break a tie.

Vice President Mike Pence, second from left, with White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, and incoming White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney as they depart for the night without a bill that would pay for President Trump’s border wall and avert a partial government shutdown, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Dec. 21, 2018 in Washington. (Associated Press)

That procedural hurdle paves the way for a future final vote in the Senate.

But with a 60-vote threshold, the House-passed package stands little chance of being endorsed on the Senate side.

Republicans, who will soon lose control of the House, see the spending fight as their last chance to secure funding for Trump’s long-promised border wall. Democrats have blasted the wall as unnecessary, expensive and offensive.

Earlier in the week, the Senate passed a bill funding other agencies at current levels through Feb. 8. But the president said he would not sign that bill because it didn’t include new wall funding.

After the White House initially indicated a willingness to consider such a short-term compromise measure, Trump faced mounting pressure from immigration-focused conservatives to dig in on his demand for $5 billion to fund a border wall. The wall was, indeed, a signature campaign promise.

The House then approved $5.7 billion for a border wall as part of a measure to fund the government through early February.

Both sides have been busy assigning blame. While Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have already branded this outcome a “Trump shutdown,” the president tweeted Friday that “it will be a Democrat Shutdown!” if they don’t support border wall funding.

Congress may have time to work out a deal before really affecting some workers: Because the partial government shutdown comes during the Christmas break, some government workers weren’t planning to work over the next four days anyway.

According to a precedent set during the Reagan administration, federal workers can be exempt from furloughs if their jobs are related to national security or if they perform essential activities that “protect life and property.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., returns to the Capitol from the White House as work to avoid a partial government shutdown continued with President Trump demanding funds for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 21, 2018. (Associated Press)

The Cabinet-level departments closing are Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation and Treasury.

But essential personnel are still required to work without pay. Nearly 90 percent of the Homeland Security staff is deemed essential.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will remain open as usual during a partial government shutdown because it is “an independent entity that is funded through the sale of our products and services, and not by tax dollars,” a spokesman told Fox News.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, air traffic controllers and border security agents would also be required to work through a shutdown – though they might not get a paycheck right away.

Amtrak, a government-owned corporation, will also continue with normal operations during a short-term shutdown, a spokeswoman confirmed to Fox News.

Fox News’ Kaitlyn Schallhorn and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/partial-government-shutdown-triggered-as-lawmakers-fail-to-reach-funding-deal-by-deadline

Image copyright
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Image caption

(Seated from left) Associate Justices Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Samuel Alito; (standing from left) Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh

The US Supreme Court has ruled against the Trump administration’s policy to deny asylum to any migrants crossing the US-Mexico border illegally.

The top court rejected the policy 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the court’s liberals.

Federal judges had previously stayed the asylum ban, ruling it tried to circumvent existing laws granting anyone the right to asylum in the US.

The government had described the policy as a way to address the border crisis.

Conservative justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

The court offered no opinion, just a document noting the order upholding the lower courts’ ruling against the ban.

What was the asylum ban?

On 9 November, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation stating that only asylum claims made at official ports of entry would be heard.

Lower federal courts blocked the policy from going into effect soon after.

In Solicitor General Noel Francisco’s request to the Supreme Court to give the proclamation the go-ahead, he claimed the president’s decree was for border security and to discourage dangerous crossings.

The petition claimed that migrants entered the US illegally and then claimed asylum, allowing them to remain in the country while their cases were being processed – even if those cases were unlikely to be granted.

“These measures are designed to channel asylum seekers to ports of entry, where their claims can be processed in an orderly manner; deter unlawful and dangerous border crossings; and reduce the backlog of meritless asylum claims.”

The government added that the temporary ban would “assist the president in sensitive and ongoing diplomatic negotiations” with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Image copyright
AFP

Image caption

Honduran migrants try to climb the Mexico-US border fence to cross to San Diego County from Tijuana, Mexico

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which issued the legal challenge to the ban, said the policy was unjustifiable and unfair.

The ACLU noted that many legitimate asylum seekers, fearing for their lives, enter illegally “through no fault of their own”.

“The government’s statutory arguments boil down to the contention that it would be more ‘rational’ and ‘sensible’ to deny asylum to people who enter illegally. But Congress expressly rejected that argument,” ACLU court documents stated.

The ACLU concluded that the administration was addressing “the wrong branch of government” with its request.

“It should make its case to Congress rather than seeking emergency intervention from this court regarding an almost 40-year-old statute.”

What did the lower courts say?

Though the administration’s ban was described as temporary, the lower courts ruled that it was not up to the White House to change existing federal laws in this way.

Under US law, there is a legal obligation to hear asylum claims from migrants if they say they fear violence in their home countries – regardless of how they have entered the country.

US District Judge Jon Tigar in California had first blocked Mr Trump’s proclamation in November, and extended his order this month.

A panel of appeals court judges upheld that injunction.

Conservative Judge Jay Bybee wrote in the appeals opinion: “Just as we may not, as we are often reminded, ‘legislate from the bench,’ neither may the Executive legislate from the Oval Office”, the Washington Post reported.

Media captionTrump and the facts about the migrant caravan

What is the situation at the border?

The latest group of migrants seeking entry into the US come from across Central America. They travelled north for weeks in what Mr Trump described as a “caravan of people”.

They say they are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their home countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

In the run-up to the US mid-term elections, President Trump said most were criminals, called the caravan an invasion, and ordered troops to the border.

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that any migrants who illegally enter the US – including asylum seekers – will have to wait in Mexico for their cases to be heard.

The Mexican government has said it will offer migrants work visas and protections while they await asylum proceedings, according to the US Department of State.

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46652863

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that a partial shutdown of the government would hopefully not last long, after Republican senators failed to muster the votes needed to approve a funding measure that included $5 billion for a border wall fiercely opposed by Democrats.

“We’re going to have a shutdown. There’s nothing we can do about that because we need the Democrats to give us their votes,” Trump said in a video posted to his Twitter account hours before a midnight deadline to pass a stop-gap budget measure. “The shutdown hopefully not last long.”

Reporting by David Alexander; Writing by Alexandra Alper

Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-shutdown/trump-hopes-partial-shutdown-of-government-will-not-last-long-idUSKCN1OL03R

Officials at a number of federal agencies on Friday told their employees to prepare for a partial government shutdown, as no deal was emerging to solve a spending spat between Congress and President Donald Trump over funding for his border wall, an impasse which could create a lapse in funding for an estimated 800,000 workers, about one quarter of the federal workforce.

In conference calls and emails, officials at various agencies were making sure employees and their supervisors were submitting time cards, pay sheets, and more, trying to get as much prep work done before a midnight funding deadline.

“Everyone will be paid on the 30th,” an official Commerce Department told an internal conference call for employees.

As those preparations were underway in agencies and departments which have not been fully funded for 2019, President Trump made clear he wasn’t backing off his call for border wall funding, blaming Democrats for the impasse.

“This is our only chance that we’ll ever have,” the President added, maybe alluding to the impending change in power in the House, as Democrats will take charge there on January 3.

“My view right now is to support the President to stand up for what we know is important,” said Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), who said he not only wanted border security money in any short term funding plan, but also disaster relief aid for areas in his state damaged by Hurricane Michael.

On Capitol Hill, there was no indication of any real negotiation on a deal, as some Republican Senators said there was simply no chance that the House-passed temporary funding bill – which includes $5.7 billion in border security money, and $7.8 billion in disaster relief – could get through the Senate.

“Why move to proceed to a bill that has no future?” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who voted against a motion to start debate on the House-passed funding plan.

Some Senators had already gone home – like Democrat Brian Schatz of Hawaii – who landed in Honolulu, spent a few minutes with his family, and immediately flew back to Washington, landing before 6 am outside the nation’s capital.

A partial shutdown would impact about 800,000 federal workers – about half of those would still have to work, even though many would not be paid.

Some federal employees were worried about the political struggle – while for others, it was noise.

“Been through it so many times,” one worker at NASA told me. “I just wait and see and not stress about it.”

“Low level contract employees – cleaning crews, cafeteria workers, are the ones who really get screwed,” another federal worker told me.

If there is a shutdown, it would be much more limited than usual, because funding bills have already been approved for about 75 percent of the federal budget, including the military, Congress, energy and water programs, the VA, military construction, and more.

There are seven funding bills which have not been finalized by Congress and the President – they cover the following areas:

+ Agriculture – deals with farm programs, Food and Drug Administration, food safety and inspection services.
+ Commerce, Justice, Science – funds the Justice Department, FBI, Commerce Department, National Weather Service, NASA, and other agencies.
+ Financial Services – This bill funds the IRS, Treasury Department, FCC, Small Business Administration, the federal courts, the government of the District of Columbia, and more.
+ Homeland Security – This is the bill which would contain money for the President’s border wall. The House never voted on it, because the GOP didn’t have the votes for the $5 billion in wall funding. The bill funds the Border Patrol, immigration and customs operations, Coast Guard, TSA, FEMA, and other agencies.
+ Interior – This bill has money for Wildfire prevention, the EPA, BLM (Bureau of Land Management), the National Park Service, Forest Service, Fish & Wildlife, Smithsonian museums and more.
+ State & Foreign Operations – This bill funds the State Department, and foreign aid programs. Quick, guess how much money the feds spend on this funding bill, as part of an over $4 trillion budget. Time’s up. If you said $47 billion, you win.
+ Transportation and Housing – This bill funds the Department of Transportation, FAA, Amtrak, and federal housing programs at HUD.


Source Article from http://jamiedupree.blog.ajc.com/2018/12/21/with-impasse-over-wall-funding-federal-workers-gear-up-for-shutdown/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government was to begin a partial shutdown at midnight on Friday after Republican senators failed to muster the votes needed to approve $5 billion that President Donald Trump wants for a border wall fiercely opposed by Democrats.

Trump sought to blame Democrats, who responded by reminding him that he said last week he would be “proud” to shut down key parts of the federal government in order to get funding for a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.

“We’re going to have a shutdown. There’s nothing we can do about that because we need the Democrats to give us their votes,” Trump said in a video posted to his Twitter account about two hours before a midnight deadline to pass a stop-gap spending bill. “The shutdown hopefully will not last long.”

Republican and Democratic senators had this week reached a deal on short-term funding legislation that did not include the $5 billion Trump wants, but the president said on Thursday he would not sign it.

The shutdown was the latest evidence of dysfunction in Washington and does not bode well for next year, when Democrats will have a stronger hand as they take control of the House of Representatives.

“President Trump has thrown a temper tantrum and now has us careening toward a ‘Trump shutdown’ over Christmas,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor.

“You’re not getting the wall today, next week or on January 3rd, when Democrats take control of the House,” Schumer added.

Hours before the midnight deadline, lawmakers met Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials in a last-ditch effort to find a compromise funding bill acceptable to both political parties and Trump.

But they were unable to reach a deal, and the House of Representatives and the Senate adjourned, ensuring a partial shutdown.

Talks between Trump’s team and Republican and Democratic leaders were expected to continue over the weekend. The Senate was set to return from recess at midday on Saturday, although it was not clear if it would have any new proposals to consider.

Three-quarters of federal government programs are fully funded through next Sept. 30, including those in the Defense Department, Labor Department and Health and Human Services.

Funding for all other agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Agriculture, was set to expire at midnight on Friday (0500 GMT).

A partial shutdown begins with affected agencies limiting staff to those deemed “essential” to public safety.

‘PROUD’

Whenever there is a government shutdown, Republicans and Democrats typically fight to blame each other.

Trump’s efforts to do that this week were undermined by his own comments during a televised argument with Schumer in the White House on Dec. 11.

“I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck, because the people of this country don’t want criminals and people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into our country,” Trump said then. “I’ll be the one to shut it down.”

Before the House and Senate adjourned on Friday, negotiators were discussing $1.6 billion for a range of border security measures – not specifically for a wall – and retaining financial assistance for areas hit by natural disasters that was added by the House, a Republican Senate aide said.

That $1.6 billion would only be $300 million more than the amount that both parties in the Senate approved in a temporary funding bill on Wednesday, only for Trump to reject it.

Trump made a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking a key campaign promise in the 2016 election, when he said it would be paid for by Mexico.

He sees it as a winning issue for his 2020 re-election campaign. Democrats oppose the wall, calling it unnecessary and ineffective.

Republican Senators Lamar Alexander and Marco Rubio expressed frustration with what they said was Trump’s shifting position.

Rubio said that earlier in the week Republican senators went with the bipartisan funding bill because Pence had told them the White House was open to such a proposal.

“We had a reasonable path and there was every indication from the president that he would sign it,” Alexander said.

In a series of early-morning tweets on Friday, Trump called on Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell to use a “nuclear option” to allow a Senate vote on legislation with a simple majority, rather than the standard “supermajority” of 60 votes.

But there was not enough support among Republican senators to do so.

The possibility of a government shutdown fed investor anxieties and contributed to another down day for U.S. stocks on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.82 percent, the S&P 500 lost 2.06 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.99 percent.

The showdown added to tensions in Washington as lawmakers also grappled with Trump’s sudden move to pull troops from Syria, which prompted Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to resign.

Slideshow (10 Images)

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion by Trump’s campaign team is also hanging over the White House.

In a shutdown, critical workers – including U.S. border agents, and nonessential employees – would not get paid until the dispute ends. National parks also would close unless the government declares them essential.

More than half of the 1,700 people who work for the executive office of the president would be “furloughed,” meaning they would be put on temporary leave.

Reporting by Richard Cowan, Ginger Gibson and Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Steve Holland and Susan Heavey; Writing by Will Dunham and Bill Trott; Editing by Kieran Murray and Cynthia Osterman

Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-budget/senate-adjourns-partial-shutdown-ensured-idUSKCN1OK15M

• Nine departments will close: The Treasury as well as the departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security, Interior, State, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Commerce and Justice.

• More than 420,000 people will work without pay, including nearly 54,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and 42,000 Coast Guard employees. As travelers flood the nation’s airports and train stations, 53,000 T.S.A. agents will keep working, as will air traffic controllers and aviation and railroad safety inspectors.

• Another 380,000 workers will be furloughed.

• The status of National Parks will be up in the air. Park staff would be furloughed, although the parks themselves would remain accessible. However, some parks, including the Grand Canyon, are planning to stay open.

• Visa and passport services will continue “as long as there are sufficient fees to support operations,” a department spokesman said, but passport agencies located in government buildings affected by a lapse in appropriations may become “unavailable to the public.”

— Catie Edmonson

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/us/politics/government-shutdown-live.html

The Washington brinkmanship that threatens to partially shut the U.S. government at midnight could have major political repercussions for President Donald Trump and for Congress. But the most immediate impact would be felt by the vast numbers of workers who would have to do without a paycheck until the impasse ends.

More than 420,000 federal employees would have to work without pay, according to a report from the Senate Appropriations Committee. An additional 380,000 would be furloughed — meaning sent home without pay — the committee estimates. 

The financial toll could be heavy if the closure lasted a “very long time,” as Mr. Trump has threatened. The longest government shutdown occurred during President Bill Clinton’s time in office, also over the holidays, and continued for 21 days. 

Shutdowns since then have been much shorter. But it’s hardly a vacation for employees. If a shutdown happens, affected federal workers won’t be paid for the week of Dec. 23 through Jan. 5 “until the lapse in appropriations has ended,” according to instructions for federal employees issued Friday by the Office of Management and Budget. 

Traditionally, Congress has restored back pay for disputes during government shutdowns. 

Won’t hurt a bit?

As the clock ticks down to avoid a shutdown, some lawmakers say the risk to federal workers is overblown. Rep. Scott Perry, R.-Pennsylvania, told Politico that furloughs have no impact because employees typically get back pay when Congress reaches an agreement and government re-opens. 

“Who’s living that they’re not going to make it to the next paycheck?” he asked reporter Sarah Ferris, according to a tweet

Labor leaders disagree. A shutdown is personally concerning this time of year for employees as they begin to travel to celebrate holidays with family and friends,” wrote Anthony M. Reardon, head of the National Treasury Employees Union, in a letter to Congressional leaders this week. 

A shutdown complicates work for agencies like the IRS ahead of tax season, as well as Customs and the Border Patrol amid trade and immigration issues, Reardon added.

Employees are also concerned about a potential pay freeze given Mr. Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal. 

“The impending shutdown could be devastating for the men and women who keep our federal buildings safe and clean,” Jaime Contreras, vice president of the Washington, D.C.-area SEIU chapter, said as part of a statement issued by several unions this week.

Economy won’t flinch, but markets might

Spending on mandatory programs including such as Social Security would continue if the government partially closes, while the U.S. would keep making government debt payments. But a longer shutdown would need to be evaluated sector-by-sector to see if it’s hurting the nation’s finances, said William Foster, senior credit officer for debt rating company Moody’s Investors Service. 

Senate expected to reject bill with $5 billion in border wall funding

The shutdown is unlikely to do much damage to the overall economy, analysts from Height Capital said in a note to clients. But for investors it could stoke “fears that government dysfunction will exacerbate the impact of trade disputes and other instability,” adding to the worries that are already torpedoing financial markets.

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-2018-employees-work-without-pay/

Meghan McCain condemned former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly for suggesting Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s time on the Supreme Court was coming to an end amid her health issues.

“Justice Ginsburg is very ill. Another Justice appointment inevitable and soon. Bad new for the left,” O’Reilly tweeted in response to news that Ginsburg had surgery Friday.

Ginsburg, 85, had two malignant nodules removed from her left lung and was “resting comfortably” at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said. The nodules were discovered after she fractured her ribs in November.

“There’s really nothing more gross and ghoulish than people in the media pontificating on a public persons health and the hypothetical political ramifications of their death. Join me in praying for RBG to have a speedy and healthy recovery – we are Christians, aren’t we Bill?” McCain responded to O’Reilly.

McCain’s father, Sen. John McCain, died in August a little more than a year after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/meghan-mccain-tells-gross-and-ghoulish-bill-oreilly-to-pray-for-ruth-bader-ginsburg

WASHINGTON — The Senate left Friday evening without reaching a stopgap funding deal, essentially guaranteeing a partial government shutdown at midnight.

The move followed a vote to open debate on a temporary funding bill — a move that left an open channel with the White House for negotiations.

The vote on the bill, which included $5 billion in border wall funding, was held open for more than five hours. It ended just before 6 p.m., when Vice President Mike Pence broke a 47-47 tie vote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the chamber voted to proceed “in order to preserve maximum flexibility for productive conversation to continue between the White House and our Democratic colleagues.”

“I hope Senate Democrats will work with the White House on an agreement that can pass both houses of congress and receive the president’s signature,” McConnell said in remarks on the floor after the vote was closed. “When an agreement is reached, it will receive a vote here on the Senate floor.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., countered that Democrats had already offered three proposals to keep the government funded, including one that passed the upper chamber on Wednesday.

“We are willing to continue discussions on those proposals,” with the White House and other congressional leaders, he said.

The House, which has also adjourned for the night, is expected to be in session Saturday around noon. Senators have been told they will be given 24-hour notice before any vote takes place.

The bill passed by the House Thursday night with $5 billion in wall funding would not make it through the Senate because it requires 60 votes to advance to final passage. Republicans maintain a 51-seat majority in the Senate and need nine Democrats to advance legislation.

“There is no path forward for the House bill,” Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said. “The only path forward is to a bill that has an agreement between the president and both houses of Congress. And the next time we vote will be on the agreement, not another test vote.”

The development about six hours before the midnight deadline to prevent a shutdown followed talks late Friday afternoon at the Capitol, as Pence and top White House officials moved back and forth between the House and Senate.

Frustration was apparent among senators and staff on Capitol Hill earlier, as the path to avoid a partial government shutdown was far from clear, with McConnell proudly brandishing a red pin that read “Senate cranky coalition.”

Senators had already passed a short-term spending bill, known as a continuing resolution that extends the previous year’s spending levels, on the seven remaining appropriations bills until February 8. But after conservatives publicly berated Trump for caving on the border wall, the president derailed the process.

After an hour-and-a-half meeting at the White House with the president and half a dozen Republicans, Republicans came back echoing the president’s message that it was up to Schumer and Democrats to avert a partial shutdown.

By mid-afternoon, after retiring Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Flake threatened to derail the procedural vote to advance the government funding bill, Pence, as well as incoming White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner arrived on Capitol Hill to re-start talks.

The White House officials met first with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Capitol Hill, and then with Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other key Republicans.

But mistrust was abundant on the Hill, where the president has previously undercut his vice president in negotiations, blowing up numerous previous handshake deals on legislation.

Earlier Friday, Trump said at a signing ceremony of a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill at the White House that “chances are probably very good” for a shutdown.

“It’s on the Democrats. It’s a Democratic shutdown,” Trump said. “Now it’s up to the Democrats. We’re prepared for a very long shutdown.”

On Friday morning, Trump had also called again on McConnell to invoke the nuclear option and kill the Senate rule that effectively requires 60 votes in the Senate to pass appropriations bills — a demand that McConnell has dismissed numerous times.

Ahead of the vote, Schumer there wasn’t enough Senate support “for an expensive, taxpayer-funded border wall.”

“President Trump, you will not get your wall,” he said on the Senate floor Friday. “Abandon your shutdown strategy. You’re not getting your wall today, next week or on Jan 3.”

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/bill-fund-border-wall-teeters-edge-senate-n950831

Chaos may reign for the thousands of visitors planning to take snow hikes, rock climbing trips and sightseeing visits to US national parks over the winter holidays, if the government shutdown goes forward at midnight on Friday.

Park conservation groups say it is likely to mirror past shutdowns – with confusion about which parks are open, closed facilities, a lack of protections for guests and wildlife, and many disappointed visitors.

In the last brief government shutdown in January, which lasted only 48 hours, the national park service directed staff to keep the parks as accessible as possible even though thousands of park employees were ordered not to come to work. One-third of the parks shut down altogether. In others, facilities such as visitors’ centers and bathrooms were shuttered, while the few remaining staff worked without paychecks to provide basic safety services.

During that shutdown, 21,000 park service employees were furloughed leaving just 3,298 “essential staff” to manage 80 million acres of national park lands, according to the National Parks Conservation association (NPCA).



Tourists walk by a sign announcing the Statue of Liberty closure during the government shutdown in October 2013. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

“In the event of a government shutdown, national parks will remain as accessible as possible while still following all applicable laws and procedures. For example, this means that roads that have already been open will remain open (think snow removal) and vault toilets (wilderness type restrooms) will remain open,” Jeremy Barnum, the national park service chief spokesperson, said in an email. “However services that require staffing and maintenance such as campgrounds and full service restrooms, will not be operating.”


Donald Trump: ‘We’re prepared for a very long shutdown’ – video

According to government contingency plans, parks might need to close down more dangerous or sensitive areas, such as skiing terrain that could be subject to avalanches, difficult trails or culturally sensitive sites. On the other hand, private concessionaires such as gift stores, gas stations and guiding services, could continue operation if they can haul out their own trash and do their own snow removal.

While parks employees may not be available, many businesses and citizens’ groups were organizing to try to lend a hand to the parks during the pending shutdown.

Arizona governor Doug Ducey said on Twitter that the state is working to make sure that the Grand Canyon’s visitor services can remain operating even if the federal government isn’t.

Doug Ducey
(@dougducey)

Washington may not know how to work together, but Arizona does. If you have plans to visit the Grand Canyon this weekend, keep ’em! The Grand Canyon will not close on our watch! pic.twitter.com/hoyv8maNtG


December 21, 2018

Ungated national monuments, such as the National Mall in Washington DC, are likely to remain open as well, whereas those with gates such as the Statue of Liberty, may or may not be open, said John Garder, an NPCA senior manager. In the January shutdown, the statue closed for a day before government officials came up with a plan to keep it open despite the government closure.

“This is a confusing and not-very-responsible way to run our parks,” said Garder. “There will be a barebones staff. There will be no preventative search and rescue. The threat to visitors’ and wildlife safety will be increased.”

According to an NPCA blog post, the last shutdown caused numerous safety hazards and park protection debacles. These included a pregnant elk being killed by a hunter at Zion national park, visitors bringing snowmobiles dangerously close to the Old Faithful geyser at Yellowstone national park and others illegally driving off-road vehicles in Joshua Tree’s vegetation.

On Friday, near Southern California’s Joshua Tree national park, Seth Zaharias, co-owner of Cliffhanger Guides, a rock-climbing guide service, was helping to organize a local citizens group that will help haul trash and protect park resources during a shutdown.

“This shutdown could last while with this stupid wall demand,” he said. “We citizens need to step up our stewardship of the park and keep the public and the natural resources safe.”

“Visitors should be prepared for slower emergency responses and to haul their own trash,” he said. “And if they could follow rules and regulations, it would be appreciated.”

Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/21/trump-government-shutdown-national-parks

As his Oval Office meeting last week with Democratic leaders turned into a bitter sparring match over his demand that border wall money be included in a government funding bill, President Donald Trump leaned forward in his chair and raised his voice at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck, because the people of this country don’t want criminals and people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into our country,” Trump said last Tuesday. “I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it.”

But 10 days later, on the eve of a possible shutdown amid an impasse in negotiations between House and Senate Republicans, President Trump took to Twitter to reverse course completely.

“The Democrats now own the shutdown!” he wrote Friday.

At the center of the fight is President Trump’s campaign pledge to build a wall along the southern border, an issue he sees as key to preserving the base of voters who propelled him to his surprise 2016 victory. While the president long promised that Mexico would pay for the wall, he drew an immediate red line — insisting the government funding package include $5 billion of the $25 billion total estimated for the wall’s construction.

The president’s shift away from an outright pledge to take the “mantle” of a Christmastime shutdown followed a whirlwind week and a half where the odds of a funding lapse seemed to fluctuate by the hour.

Congressional Republicans sought to coalesce divisions among their own members while at the same time trying to get a clear picture of the what Trump would inevitably approve, though there was broad recognition that there was no path to $5 billion for the wall in the Senate where a spending bill would require 60 votes.

Presumptive incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seemed to dare the president in their Oval Office meeting that a $5 billion wall vote would be doomed not only in the Senate but the House.

Democrats, emboldened by a sweeping victory in the House during the November midterms, soon drew their own red line of zero money for ‘new’ border wall construction, while remaining open to as much as $1.6 billion of border security funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump turned his sights on hammering Democrats throughout the week as advocating for ‘open borders’ as they repeatedly shot down offers from Republicans on packages that included wall funding and argued Republicans had lost all leverage when Trump agreed to take ownership of any shutdown.

Early in the week as the president’s planned 17-day vacation in Mar a Lago was fast approaching, in the White House there seemed to be a growing recognition that the demand for $5 billion would not be attainable.

Press secretary Sarah Sanders said in Tuesday briefing that the president had tasked Cabinet members with finding ways to direct existing funds in their agencies towards a wall, which Democrats argued violated federal appropriations rules.

“At this point, we’re disappointed in the fact they’ve yet to vote and pass something,” Sanders said. “When they do that, we’ll make a determination whether we’re going to sign that.”

The next morning, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway denied the president was “softening his stance” on a border wall in a surprisingly contentious exchange with the anchors of ‘Fox and Friends.’ At the same time, she announced that Trump would “certainly look at” a government funding extension floated by Senate Republicans that would keep the government open through Feb. 8 but not include any new funding for a wall.

But as the package cleared the Senate, the protests from Trump’s conservative media allies grew louder by the minute.

“I think the not funding the wall will go down as one of the worst, worst things to have happened to this administration,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham warned on her show.

“It looks like a lot of people’s worst fears may be realized and that the president is getting ready to cave,” radio host Rush Limbaugh told his listeners.

As the onslaught continued into Thursday morning, Trump, meanwhile, delivered mixed messages in a series of tweets, seeming in one to present an argument against the need for a wall, saying, “Border is tight!”

Minutes later, he vented that Republican leaders had broken their promise to guarantee the wall would be funded if he agreed to sign a separate omnibus spending bill back in March.

While leaders in the House waited for word from the White House on whether to move forward on the Senate’s funding bill, President Trump held what sources described as an “emergency” phone call with outgoing Speaker Paul Ryan, and a leadership press conference was canceled as Republicans were summoned to the White House for a meeting with the president.

After more than an hour, Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy emerged without warning in front of the West Wing as reporters sprinted from their offices to the press stakeout.

“The president informed us that he will not sign the bill that came over from the Senate last evening because of his legitimate concerns for border security,” Ryan said. “So what we’re gonna do is go back to the House and work with our members, we want to keep the government open but we also want to see an agreement that protects the border.”

Later, House Republicans were able to clear the Senate’s package with $5.8 billion in border security coupled with $7.8 billion in disaster relief funds tacked on, spelling almost certain doom for the bill upon its return to the Senate.

Nonetheless, the White House and President Trump declared victory in calling Pelosi’s bluff.

But as the White House still seemed to lack a strategy in overcoming the obstacle posed by the Senate’s 60-vote margin as multiple senators were already making their way home for the winter break, Trump made his first attempt at shedding the idea he would own the increasing likelihood of a shutdown.

As Senate Republicans made their way to the White House for a meeting with the president on the funding bill, Pelosi and Schumer responded to the president with a cutdown of his Oval Office comments.

Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-revives-label-democrat-shutdown-pledging-im-blame/story?id=59958001

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery just before Christmas to remove cancerous growths found in her lungs.

She had a pulmonary lobectomy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City to remove the growths in her left lung.

Ginsburg, 85, had surgery for colorectal cancer in 1999 and pancreatic cancer about a decade later. She broke two ribs in a fall in 2012 and had a stent implanted to fix a blocked artery in 2014. She also bruised some ribs during a fall last month.

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Despite all that, the Supreme Court justice has never missed arguments in more than 25 years on the bench. The next arguments to be heard are slated for Jan. 7.

Here’s a look at the procedure Ginsburg had done and what’s next for the justice in her recovery.

What is a lobectomy?

There are five lobes in the lungs – two on the left lung and three on the right. During a lobectomy, which occurs when something is wrong with part of a lung, the affected lobe is removed, leaving the remaining tissue to work regularly, according to Johns Hopkins.

Ginsburg had two malignant growths in her left lung removed.

A lobectomy can be recommended if a person is diagnosed with COPD, has lung cancer or benign tumors, according to the American Lung Association. The procedure can be either minimally invasive or be done with a longer incision on the side of the chest.

Typically lymph nodes are removed during the procedure to prevent the possible spread of cancer or disease, the American Lung Association said.

Who did the surgery?

The surgery was performed by Dr. Valerie Rusch, one of the first female thoracic surgeons. She is the vice chair for clinical research in the surgery department at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Rusch received the American College of Surgeons 2018 Distinguished Service Award earlier this year.

She graduated from Vassar College with a degree in biochemistry before she earned her medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. She also attended the Lycée Français de New York, a bilingual private school in Manhattan, as a child.

She did her residency in general and cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle and completed a fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, according to her biography.

What’s next for the Justice?            

“Ginsburg is resting comfortably and is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days,” the court said in a statement.

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York found “no evidence of any remaining disease” and scans taken before the surgery showed no cancerous growths elsewhere in her body, the court said. No additional treatment is currently planned, the court said.

She is expected to remain hospitalized for a few days.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/health/ruth-bader-ginsburg-has-pulmonary-lobectomy-what-to-know-about-the-procedure

The Senate on Friday was scrambling to take up a spending package with billions in funding for a border wall, as President Trump made clear there’s a “good chance” for a partial government shutdown at midnight.

The House on Thursday approved $5.7 billion for a border wall as part of a measure to fund the government through early February. But the Senate on Friday afternoon was struggling to overcome a procedural hurdle to even set up a vote on the bill, amid Democrats’ refusal to give in on a border wall.

“President Trump: you will not get your wall,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor. “Abandon your shutdown strategy. You’re not getting the wall today, next week or on January 3rd, when Democrats take control of the House.”

The Senate needs a simple majority to simply take up the spending package — after which the measure would need an even more daunting 60-vote majority to pass. But as of Friday afternoon, the procedural vote remained open for more than two hours as Republicans struggled to cobble together support. Things were complicated by outgoing GOP Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake voting against proceeding and other lawmakers traveling for the holidays.

The president – who says a spending package must include new funding for border security — told reporters Friday he hopes there won’t be a shutdown but he is prepared to ride one out if there is.

“Now it’s up to the Democrats as to whether or not we have a shutdown tonight,” Trump said.

Earlier, the president hailed the House vote as a big victory – one that GOP leaders scrambled to achieve when the president abruptly backed off tacit support for an earlier Senate-approved stopgap that did not include the wall money.

With a 60-vote threshold, however, the House-passed package stands little chance of being endorsed on the Senate side. Still, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday, “Let’s advance this legislation. Let’s pass it. Let’s finish our work for this year. Let’s secure our country.”

Earlier in the day, the president publicly urged McConnell to deploy the so-called “nuclear option” to jam through the spending package, which refers to changing Senate precedent so legislation could be approved with a 51-vote majority, instead of the usual 60. But McConnell’s office made clear the majority leader would not do that, and several Republican senators said they also opposed it.

Trump backed the “nuclear option” after Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and others called for it.

Absent a sudden compromise or an even more unlikely filibuster change, funding for nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies could lapse at midnight, resulting in a partial shutdown just as the Christmas break begins.

Both sides were busy assigning blaming Friday morning, in anticipation of that scenario. While Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have already branded this outcome a Trump shutdown, the president tweeted Friday that “it will be a Democrat Shutdown!” if they don’t support the measure before them in the Senate.

“No matter what happens today in the Senate, Republican House Members should be very proud of themselves. They flew back to Washington from all parts of the World in order to vote for Border Security and the Wall. Not one Democrat voted yes, and we won big. I am very proud of you!” he tweeted.

Fox News’ Judson Berger and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-scrambles-to-take-up-border-wall-funding-as-shutdown-clock-ticks

The challenge of replacing Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is twofold: His replacement needs to retain President Trump’s trust, but the person must also be willing to offer honest advice.

Relatively few individuals could fill that role. But here are three that spring to mind.

1) Jon Huntsman
A former governor of Utah, former ambassador to China, former ambassador to Singapore, and former U.S. trade representative, Huntsman currently serves as ambassador to Russia. Extremely well-versed in national security policy and fluent in Mandarin, Huntsman’s dual-experience in China and Russia would allow him to continue Mattis’ reforms towards better preparing America for great power struggles. Huntsman’s particular knowledge of and experience with the Chinese would be of instrumental value here. After all, China’s challenge to the U.S.-led international order will define questions of security for the foreseeable future. Yet, where Huntsman posseses Trump’s respect, he also retains the confidence of the Senate. That matters because senators will be looking for a Mattis replacement who they believe will offer competency and hard advice to the president. They will be rightly cautious against confirming someone who will simply tell Trump what he wants to hear.

2) Jack Keane
A retired four-star Army general and part-architect of President George W. Bush’s highly successful surge in Iraq, Keane is a Fox News contributor and a hawkish realist. Yet, like Mattis, Keane is a keen strategic thinker who shares the current secretary’s penchant for seizing the initiative. In a recent Fox interview, Keane honestly explained how China and Russia have now exceeded U.S. military capabilities in some areas. He knows the Defense Department inside out and would be able to go full throttle from day one. Keane also gets the importance of working with other levers of national power to pursue strategic effect. That would make him a good partner to Mike Pompeo’s State Department. I suspect the retired general’s tough-minded attitude and appreciation for discretion would earn the president’s favor.

3) Michele Flournoy
A centrist Democrat who served at the Pentagon under Bob Gates during the Obama administration, Flournoy is respected for her intellect, energy, and ability to work the national security bureaucracy out of its tendency towards lethargy. Would Flournoy serve under Trump? Perhaps. Would Trump appoint Flournoy? He would if he wants to consolidate the Senate towards a greater confidence that he is willing to seek honest advice. Flournoy’s arrival would also help balance out the more overt hawkishness of Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/here-are-3-good-replacements-for-defense-secretary-jim-mattis

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A partial government shutdown looks probable as President Donald Trump digs in his heels on his demand to fund a border wall.

Congress has until midnight Friday to either pass spending bills for seven federal agencies, or approve a stopgap spending measure that would push off a potential shutdown. If those efforts fail, the closure could affect hundreds of thousands of Americans’ jobs through the holidays.

Trump wants $5 billion in funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and has said he would be “proud” to shut the government down if Congress doesn’t accede to his demand.

The Office of Management and Budget started notifying federal agencies Thursday that they should prepare for a shutdown. Yet since lawmakers have already funded large portions of the government through the 2019 fiscal year, the current crisis would only shut down parts of the government. The unfunded agencies make up about a quarter of the government.

This is what could happen if there is a shutdown this weekend:

Federal employees will work without pay

More than 420,000 federal employees across numerous agencies will continue to work even if the government shuts down. They just won’t get paid for it immediately.

Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee say that number will include more than 41,000 federal law enforcement and correctional officers from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and thousands of other law enforcement and correctional officers.

The vast majority of Department of Homeland Security employees will also work without a regular paycheck. The nearly 90 percent of workers in the agency affected by a shutdown would include 53,000 Transportation Security Administration employees, as well as 42,000 Coast Guard employees.

As many as 54,000 employees from Customs and Border Protection — the agents who are currently working to secure the southern U.S. border — are also projected to work without paychecks. By forcing a shutdown over border security, Trump would cause the agents he often lauds for their efforts to stop illegal immigration to temporarily go without compensation.

Up to 5,000 Forest Service firefighters and 3,600 National Weather Service forecasters will also keep working without paychecks, according to Senate Democrats.

The special counsel’s office, which is investigating potential criminal connections between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, will continue operating.

Furloughed workers

Another 380,000 federal workers or more would be placed on temporary leave without receiving pay in the event of a government shutdown, according the Democrats.

Furloughs would affect vast swathes of Department of Commerce and NASA staff. About 41,000 people, or 86 percent, would be furloughed from the Commerce Department, along with a staggering 96 percent of NASA employees.

Four-fifths of the Forest and National Park Services, totaling more than 44,000 employees, would be sidelined, as would approximately 52,000 staff from the IRS, and about 7,100 Housing and Urban Development workers — 95 percent of the total.

Thirty percent of Transportation Department employees, equaling about 18,300, would be furloughed, as well.

All of that lost work could cost taxpayers huge amounts of money. An Office of Management and Budget review of a 2013 government shutdown during the Obama administration concluded that the cost of “the lost productivity of furloughed workers” alone was $2 billion. The cost may not go that high this time with five agencies still running.

That shutdown was one of the longest in U.S. history. A failure to fund the government by midnight Friday would likely create a closure that lasts into the new year, when Democrats take majority control of the House.

Trump himself said in a tweet Friday morning that “if the Dems vote no, there will be a shutdown that will last for a very long time.”

Department closures

Nine federal departments will be shuttered if the government shuts down this weekend. They are:

  • Department of the Treasury
  • Department of Agriculture
  • Homeland Security Department
  • Department of the Interior
  • Department of State
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • Department of Transportation
  • Department of Commerce
  • Department of Justice

“Dozens” of U.S. agencies will also close down during the shutdown, according to the report from the Senate Democrats. Those closures could lead non-federal employees to feel the impact of the shutdown, as well.

For instance, with thousands of their employees furloughed, national parks are likely to close. In the previous shutdown in January, about one-third of the country’s national parks were closed — even following an agency directive to keep parks open.

U.S. housing authorities are also expected to see significant delays in loan processing and approvals.

Other institutions have announced preparations in the event of a partial shutdown. The Smithsonian said it will be able to use existing funds to keep its 19 museums and national zoo open to the public through Jan. 1.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said on its website Friday morning that it also “will remain open for a limited number of days, fully staffed and focused on the agency’s mission” if the government shuts down.

A spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative said it “would be an agency affected by a lapse in appropriations.”

“Essential personnel will be on-duty to ensure USTR continues to conduct all necessary operations, including trade negotiations and enforcement,” the spokesman added.

— CNBC’s Mary Catherine Wellons contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/21/what-happens-if-government-shuts-down.html

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