Live coverage: Shutdown begins
A partial shutdown of the federal government began Saturday at midnight, after the Senate failed to pass a short-term funding bill.
Negotiations over legislation to keep the government running are expected to continue into the weekend.
Bookmark this link for the latest developments.
House to resume legislative business Sunday
7:27 p.m.
GOP leadership says it doesn’t expect any further votes in the House Saturday night.
The House plans on being back in session on Sunday starting at 2 p.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that the Senate will be back in session on Sunday as the government appears poised to enter the second day of the shutdown.
Graham, Flake ping-pong between leadership offices
6:34 p.m.
Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) spent Saturday evening shuffling back and forth between leadership offices.
The two senators, who have pushed for a vote on immigration legislation to help “Dreamers,” left Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office and went into Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) office. They then left the Democratic leader’s office and went back to McConnell’s.
After emerging from the majority leader’s office, the two said they were going to dinner.
“We’re going to dinner to get away from y’all,” Graham said to a gaggle of reporters.
– Jordain Carney
Bipartisan group meeting in Schumer’s office
6:13 p.m.
A bipartisan group of senators is meeting in the office of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
GOP Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) left Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office and walked into Schumer’s office.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who was waiting in Schumer’s office, joked that they were being “not subtle,” as they were trailed by a herd of reporters.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) was also spotted going into Schumer’s office.
The bipartisan meeting comes after Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) met with Schumer.
– Jordain Carney
Military television network off the air due to government shutdown
5:27 p.m.
Deployed members of the armed services will not have access to U.S. television and radio programming amid the government shutdown, the Armed Forces Network (AFN) announced in a tweet on Saturday.
— AFN Broadcasting (@AFNtelevision) January 20, 2018
The lack of television means troops won’t be able to watch this weekend’s NFL playoff games.
AFN provides information, news and entertainment broadcasting to members of the military, Defense Department employees, contractors and their families.
Democrats mull keeping Senate in session overnight
5:09 p.m.
A group of Senate Democrats are talking about forcing the Senate to stay in session overnight to protest Republican opposition to a bipartisan immigration deal.
Democratic senators say they may block a motion to adjourn the chamber on Saturday and require the Senate to stay in session until Sunday morning so they can take turns talking about the plight of “Dreamers,” immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, on the floor.
The talk-a-thon would likely be led by Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), a Democrat considered a top-tier contender for president in 2020, with expected support from Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and other lawmakers who have supported similar efforts in the past.
The plans aren’t yet firm and there’s some question whether Democrats can recruit enough people to keep a talk-a-thon going until the wee hours.
– Alexander Bolton
I think I spy a floor sign trend, guys. pic.twitter.com/22vypsuXQy
— Jordain Carney (@jordainc) January 20, 2018
Scalise to GOP: Don’t be held ‘hostage’ to Dem demands
3:20 p.m.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who is in the hospital this week recovering from a planned surgery, sent out a letter to his colleagues on Saturday urging them not to let the government be held “hostage” to Democratic demands.
“As I continue to recover in the hospital (and hopefully get released in the next few days), I wanted to let you know how proud I am of the work the House has done to do our job and take care of our business,” Scalise wrote.
“We have a responsibility to the American people to not let our government be held hostage to these political antics by Democrats. This is not how we govern.”
Scalise has been out all week, but was making phone calls from his hospital bed urging Republicans to support the four-week funding bill that eventually passed the House on Thursday evening — and that the Senate rejected on Friday.
“Thanks for the prayers. Hope to see you soon,” Scalise signed off on the letter.
– Melanie Zanona
Trump budget chief fires back: Schumer needs to ‘up his game’
3:05 p.m.
White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney fired back at Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Saturday after the senator said negotiating with the president was like “negotiating with Jell-O.”
“Mr. Schumer has to up his game and be more honest with the president of the United States if we are going to be seeing progress on that front,” Mulvaney told reporters at the White House.
Mulvaney questioned the benefit of working with Schumer, pointing to the Democratic leader’s claim that he offered to put Trump’s request for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border “on the table” at a White House meeting on Friday.
“Chuck Schumer actually had the gall to look at the president and said ‘I am giving you everything you asked for the wall’ and then, when pressed, he admitted that he was not doing it,” he said.
– Julia Manchester
Schumer blasts Trump as unreliable negotiator
1:41 p.m.
Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) said President Trump made a deal with him on Friday to fund the government — before changing his mind.
According to Schumer, working with Trump is “like negotiating with Jell-O,” leaving Democrats struggling to move forward on negotiations to reopen the government.
McConnell tries to break Senate stalemate
1:23 p.m.
On the Senate side, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is also calling for a three-week stopgap bill and for bipartisan negotiations to resume.
“Let’s resume the bipartisan discussion on funding, our troops, DACA, on government spending and all of the other priorities that all of us can work together to resolve,” he said, speaking on the Senate floor and referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
But Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) earlier objected to the three-week idea and called for a summit meeting with President Trump.
The president, meanwhile, has indicated he is not open to negotiating further on immigration issues that are key to Democrats while the government is still closed.
House lawmakers at odds over a stopgap solution
12:55 p.m.
House Republicans on Saturday appeared ready to rally around backing a three-week stopgap to end the government shutdown and keep the government open.
But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said it’s meaningless to support another short-term spending patch until the parties have agreed on the contours of a broader fiscal 2018 funding package that meets several of the Democrats’ base demands.
Meanwhile, a visibly frustrated Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) took to the House floor to call the shutdown “utter madness.”
“We do some crazy things in Washington, but this is utter madness,” Ryan said.
House Republicans voice support for three-week funding bill
12:44 p.m.
House Republicans on Saturday appeared open to backing a three-week stopgap funding measure to end the government shutdown, but an endgame still remains elusive with Senate Democrats and Republicans in a standoff.
“I believe we would accept if they go to Feb. 8,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters as he left a meeting with rank-and-file House Republicans in the basement of the Capitol.
Some Senate Republicans, including South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, have been pushing for a funding bill through Feb. 8. But Senate Democrats have balked at that plan, instead pushing for a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government for only four or five days.
– Scott Wong and Cristina Marcos
White House: Trump is monitoring ongoing negotiations
12:25 p.m.
President Trump spoke with GOP leadership on Saturday morning, according to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The president appears to be digging in on his position in the shutdown negotiations.
“He is receiving regular updates from members of his administration and members on the Hill,” she said in a statement. “He has spoken with [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] a couple of times this morning and just spoke with Speaker [Paul] Ryan [R-Wis.] within the last hour. We are committed to making sure the American people, especially our great military and the most vulnerable children are taken care of. The President will not negotiate on immigration reform until Democrats stop playing games and reopen the government.”
Trump speaks to McConnell, White House reaches out to Congress
11:38 a.m.
President Trump spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Saturday to discuss measures to end the government shutdown.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told reporters the two leaders spoke in the morning, but did not provide other details about the call.
Chief of staff John Kelly is reaching out to members of Congress by phone from the White House and legislative director Marc Short and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional leaders.
House votes scheduled
11:15 a.m.
The House is planning to conduct procedural votes Saturday afternoon, but no action on legislation to reopen the government is expected yet.
The House will vote on a quorum call at noon. Then, the chamber will consider a measure known as “same-day authority” to ensure that a bill can reach the floor on the same day it is reported out of the House Rules Committee.
The House normally has to wait a day before starting to consider a bill prepared by the Rules Committee.
Democrat: ‘Pessimistic’ about chances of ending shutdown soon
11:11 a.m.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), leaving a meeting of House Democrats, said he is feeling “pessimistic about reopening the government in any kind of expeditious way.”
He said Democrats were encouraged on Friday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) “seemed open” to doing immigration as part of a spending bill. But then Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) called McConnell, Connolly claimed, and rejected that idea.
“And that was the end of that,” Connolly said.
Senior House Republican: We’re going to get blamed
10:50 a.m.
Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, acknowledged that his party will get at least some of the blame for the shutdown.
“There’s a lot of blame to go around on all sides. We’re in the majority, we control all three branches. So we’re going to get blamed, whether we deserve it or not. Just the way it is,” Dent told reporters as he walked to the House GOP conference meeting.
Dent announced last year that he would retire. In his September announcement, Dent noted that he had considered leaving Congress since the last shutdown and lamented the “dysfunction, disorder and chaos.”
Asked on Saturday if he’s feeling justified in his decision to retire, Dent replied: “Absolutely!”
Democrats are meeting to discuss next steps
10:30 a.m.
Democrats, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), are meeting. Durbin joined the meeting to claps and cheers.
Durbin has been leading the charge among Senate Democrats to oppose any spending bill before lawmakers have secured a clear path to adopting protections for immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, often called “Dreamers.”
As part of the remarkable Senate floor negotiations late Friday night, GOP leaders agreed to stage a vote on Durbin’s proposal, sponsored with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), to accomplish that goal if separate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program talks fail to yield a similar deal by Feb. 8.
It’s far from clear, however, if that measure would be taken up in the House, where Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has said he won’t consider any DACA bill not supported by President Trump. Trump rejected the Graham-Durbin proposal last week.
Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) said Saturday morning that a Senate vote on DACA is meaningless unless Ryan gives assurances that the bill will also get a vote in the House.
House is back in session
9 a.m.
Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) has called for a White House summit to hash out a deal.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did not respond directly to Schumer’s call for a summit meeting, but said the Senate will reconvene at noon and that votes would likely be later in the day.
House lawmakers were told that they should expect to reconvene at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
House back in session at 9 this chilly but beautiful Saturday morning. House Republicans huddle in Capitol basement at 10. Senate returns at noon after fireworks on the floor last night.
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) January 20, 2018
Trump blames Democrats for shutdown
6:17 a.m.
President Trump, in a series of early morning tweets, blamed Democrats for failing to make a deal in order to keep the government open.
Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said early Saturday that he offered a deal to Trump involving border wall funding in exchange for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections during a White House meeting, but the president walked away.
Alexander Bolton, Melanie Zanona, Cristina Marcos and Scott Wong contributed.
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