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The government shutdown is slated to become the longest one in the nation’s history when the clock strikes midnight, but White House officials are expecting a quiet weekend at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
No meetings between White House officials and congressional staff are scheduled, and no appearances by President Trump are expected.
The White House’s hope is that once lawmakers are at home this weekend and hear complaints about the shutdown from their constituents, they will be more open to negotiating when they’re back in Washington Monday.
Remember: Last weekend, senior White House staff traveled to Camp David for meetings with White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who has led shutdown talks, and officials pre-taped interviews with television networks so they could get their message out on the Sunday shows. Right now, only Secretary of State Pompeo is appearing on TV Sunday.
A White House official said using funds from civil asset forfeiture is one of several ideas the White House has considered as administration officials search for options that could allow President Trump to fund construction of his border wall if lawmakers don’t reach a deal.
The official confirmed the White House has also looked into diverting disaster relief funds — but no decision has been made as to what Trump might do to bypass Congress for wall money, if anything at all. Trump said today he would like to avoid declaring a national emergency “right now,” as he called on Congress to “do its job.”
Republican Congressman Mark Meadows, a top ally of Trump’s on Capitol Hill, is among those who have pushed the civil asset forfeiture option over a national emergency declaration. Meadows today tweeted his support for attempting to use forfeiture money for the wall before declaring a national emergency. Two sources said there is support for the civil asset forfeiture approach among some House Freedom Caucus members, who would very likely support the President anyway if he decided instead to do the emergency declaration.
While other options look at funds coming from the Department of Defense, these would come from Justice Department.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was not in the Capitol Friday, when some furloughed federal works missed their first paychecks and the government shutdown tied the mark for the longest in American history.
McConnell, who has been criticized by Democrats for blocking votes to reopen the government, skipped his customary remarks as the Senate gaveled in.
Instead, he headed home to Kentucky, according to his staff.
When the chamber opened at 10 a.m. ET, without McConnell in usual spot on the floor, the Senate chaplain, Rev. Barry Black, prayed for lawmakers to “open their hearts.”
“As the partial government shutdown grinds on, help our lawmakers to open their hearts to your love and to surrender their desires to your purposes,” he said.
Without McConnell and other key Republicans, the floor was largely left to Democrats, who gave speech after speech assailing them for not standing up for federal workers by standing up to Trump.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican From Texas, said he would oppose any administration effort to use disaster funding for the construction of a border wall.
Some background: The Trump administration is actively examining using billions of dollars in unspent Defense Department disaster recovery and military construction funds for the construction of a border wall in the event the President declares a national emergency, according to a US official.
Congress appropriated $14 billion in supplemental funds to repair infrastructure in areas of the country hardest hit by disasters. In anticipation of a national emergency declaration, the official tells CNN that the Pentagon was asked to provide lists of unspent funds including those earmarked for civil works projects that are part of disaster recovery in Puerto Rico, Texas, California, Florida, and elsewhere.
President Trump urged Democrats to return to Washington and vote for a wall or barrier, saying, “They can name it whatever. They can name it peaches.”
“This is where I ask the Democrats to come back to Washington and to vote for money for the wall, the barrier, whatever you want to call it, it’s OK with me,” Trump said at the roundtable Friday.
While saying he won’t do it right now, President Trump said Friday he is still open to declaring a national emergency, but made clear he would “rather not,” calling it an “easy way out.”
“If they can’t do it, I will declare a national emergency. I have the absolute right to do it,” Trump added.
One of the reasons Trump is reluctant to declare a national emergency: He believes his administration will be sued and that his actions will be blocked by the 9th Circuit.
“I’ll be sued. It’ll be brought to the 9th Circuit and maybe even though the wording is unambiguous … we’ll probably lose there too,” Trump said, adding he would “hopefully win” at the Supreme Court.
The President went on to argue that the country is “under siege.”
“We have a country that is being invaded by criminals and by drugs and we’re going to stop it,” Trump said, offering no evidence to back up his claims.
Trump’s comments come despite illegal immigration being among the lowest levels historically.
Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commander of the US Army Corps Engineers, spoke with President Trump about options for the Army Corps to contract out the building of the wall on Thursday, according to two US defense officials.
However, the officials said Semonite’s interaction with Trump was very limited so it is unlikely he was able to go into all of the options with the President. It is not clear whether the conversation happened on Air Force One or on the ground in Texas.
The options that Semonite was prepared to brief the President on included funding sources and military construction as well as tapping into unused money from supplementals, which could include disaster relief and flood plain projects.
One of the officials notes that some in the Pentagon feel that the Army Corps’ proposals were not fully coordinated with the Department of Defense and that this appears to be a somewhat unilateral effort by them.
Why this matters: CNN reported Thursday that the Trump administration is actively examining using billions of dollars in unspent Defense Department disaster recovery and military construction funds for the construction of a border wall in the event the President declares a national emergency, according to a US official.
Congress appropriated $14 billion in supplemental funds to repair infrastructure in areas of the country hardest hit by disasters like Hurricane Maria, which slammed Puerto Rico in 2017 and resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.
President Trump said he has decided, for now, not to do a national emergency on the southern border.
“The easy solution is for me to call a national emergency … but I’m not going to do it so fast,” Trump said, while speaking at the White House during a roundtable meeting on border security.
“We want Congress to do its job,” the President added. “What we’re not looking to do right now is national emergency.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham took to Twitter to urge President Trump to “declare a national emergency” again after he said he met with the President.
Graham, a key Trump ally, went on to say that it was clear to him and the President that “Democrats don’t want to make a deal.”
Some background: This isn’t the first time Graham has called on Trump to declare a national emergency to secure funding for a border wall.
He issued a statement yesterday, urging the President to use his emergency powers after talks for a compromise hit a wall.
Democrats have said the move would not withstand legal scrutiny, and some Republicans have expressed hesitancy about the prospect.
Vice President Mike Pence just made remarks at US Customs and Border Protection Headquarters in Washington, DC, thanking the agents in attendance and assuring them that they have the administration’s full support.
He repeatedly called the situation a “crisis.”
He called the border patrol agents “essential” and praised their commitment to law and order.
He said the government shutdown has “no doubt created anxiety” for federal employees who did not receive a paycheck today, adding that the administration has “taken steps to mitigate the impact.”
He highlighted legislation that will ensure federal workers will be paid in full.
“When the government reopens, your families will get your paycheck. We’re going to work to end this shutdown,” he said.
In the meantime, Pence urged them to “focus on the mission.”
He continued: “I want to assure you that we’re going to figure this thing out.”
The Senate adjourned today and won’t be back until Monday afternoon.
What this means: The shutdown is likely to continue next week, making this the longest shutdown in US history.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, speaking to reporters moments ago, said President Trump’s consideration of a national emergency is “his big diversion.”
Asked if the government would reopen if he declared a national emergency, Pelosi said this:
She wouldn’t comment on whether Trump would be overstepping his power to declare an emergency.
“Let’s see what he does,” she said when asked if Trump was overstepping.
Remember: The government does not just immediately reopen and the overall dynamics remain the same: The Senate, House Democrats and Trump all need to sign off on the plan to fund the 25% of the government currently shut down.
Given that — and the fact most senators have gone home for the week — it’s exceedingly unlikely the government reopens any time soon, no matter what the President does with his emergency declaration.
The Port of Seattle is hosting a resources fair on Friday to assist federal employees who are working without pay during the federal government’s partial shutdown, according to a Port of Seattle statement.
The resources fair, being held at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, may be held again on Monday, based on response and needs expressed by participants at Friday’s event.
The House of Representatives just overwhelmingly passed a bill that guarantees backpay for federal workers who have been furloughed during the government’s partial shutdown.
The vote was 411-7.
The Senate passed the bill on a voice vote yesterday.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers missed their first full paychecks today.
What we’re watching: The measure now goes to President Trump for his signature.
Tampa International Airport is starting a food bank for its government employees.
Airport officials are working with United Way Suncoast to start the food bank, which is for the airport’s Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection and Federal Aviation Administration employees.
The food bank will open at noon on Monday.
About 700 federal airport employees work in Tampa, according to Janet Scherberger, vice president of media and government relations with the airport.
On top of the food bank, here’s how else the Tampa airport is helping its furloughed workers…
Scherberger said that despite the government shutdown, Tampa International Airport is not experiencing any operational issues, and have not had to change any of its operations.
William Striffler, an air traffic controller at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey whose pay stub read $0.00 this week, said his wife is 39 weeks pregnant.
Striffler said he and his wife have savings to help them through the next few months.
His message to Congress?
“We don’t want to be used as political pawns,” he said “We have a stressful enough job as it is. This is really, you know, going to start hitting hard.”
Watch more:
Miami International Airport officials will reassess after this weekend whether they will keep Concourse G terminal closed beyond the weekend, spokesman Greg Chin tells CNN that they
The airport announced yesterday that it would close the security checkpoints in terminal G — one of six terminals in the airport — after 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday because of a shortage of Transportation Security Administration screeners.
Chin said that on a normal day, about 40 TSA officers call out sick. In the last couple of days, it has doubled. Now, about 80 TSA officers call out sick daily.
Even with the scaled back staff, Chin said TSA has been able to keep wait times down.
President Trump has repeatedly said he’s considering declaring a national emergency if the shutdown talks crumble.
So what happens to the shutdown if Trump does, in fact, declare one?
The government does not just immediately re-open and the overall dynamics remain the same: The Senate, House Democrats and President Trump all need to sign off on the plan to fund the 25% of the government currently shut down.
At this point, according to GOP sources in both chambers, the White House has not fully laid out what President Trump would accept. While those same Republican sources are fairly certain the President will soon declare a national emergency, what the agreement would be to actually re-open the government remains an unknown.
Given that — and the fact most senators have gone home for the week — it’s exceedingly unlikely the government re-opens any time soon, no matter what the President does with his emergency declaration.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are waking up to their first full missed paychecks today.
Take, for instance, William Striffler, an air traffic controller at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
He gave CNN permission to use this image of his pay stub. The amount listed under “net pay?” $0.00.
Meanwhile, some members of Congress are refusing or donating their own paychecks in a show of solidarity with furloughed workers.
So far, 71 members of Congress say they will turn down their paychecks during the partial government shutdown, according to social media posts and statements reviewed by CNN.
That comprises 13 senators and 58 representatives, with members from both parties making up a similar proportion of those going without pay. Fourteen representatives passing on pay are newly elected and were sworn in this year.
