President Donald Trump expressed confidence that the ongoing government shutdown will end on a positive note, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that his administration and the Republican Party are “winning” while working to reduce federal spending.
“Good. We are winning, and cutting costs, big time!” Trump told Tapper when asked via text message yesterday how he thinks the government shutdown will end.
Some context: Despite the president’s optimism, lawmakers left Washington for the weekend with no apparent progress toward a funding agreement to reopen the government.
Efforts to pass competing Republican and Democratic funding proposals failed again in the Senate on Friday, with both parties locked in a stalemate over enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
President Donald Trump is expected to address service members and top military brass at the US Navy’s 250th birthday celebration later today in Norfolk, Virginia.
The appearance comes as the federal government shutdown drags on, with Trump so far digging in his heels and blaming Democrats for the lack of a funding bill.
It’s been a busy week elsewhere for the White House, too. Here’s a quick roundup:
• Middle East ceasefire effort: Trump is keeping pressure on both Israel and Hamas to move forward with his proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. Delegations from Hamas, Israel and the US are headed to Egypt to try and finalize a deal. Follow live updates here.
• Troop deployments in US cities: The ongoing battle between the Trump administration and Democrat-led cities intensified this weekend, with a federal judge in Oregon hitting pause on the president’s plan to deploy federal troops in Portland, and the White House announcing authorization for hundreds of National Guard members to be sent to Chicago.
• Trade war bailout: American farmers are having a tough year, in no small part because of President Donald Trump’s trade war. Now, the White House is gearing up to extend them a multi-billion-dollar bailout, sources tell CNN.
Welcome to our live coverage of the federal government shutdown, which has entered a fifth day.
We’ll bring you updates on the stalemate between Democrats and Republicans in Congress as lawmakers make the rounds on Sunday morning political talk shows. We’re also tracking the impacts we’re seeing across the country for average Americans.
If you tuned out for the past couple days, here’s the lay of the land:
• How we got here: Democrats are pressuring Republicans to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies as part of any stopgap bill to fund the government, while the GOP says the issue can wait until the end of the year. Failure to extend the subsidies could spike premiums by 75% on average, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.
• We’re still seeing a lot of finger-pointing: Democratic senators say they’re ready for “real negotiation” on health care policy and a bill to fund the government, accusing Republicans of following President Donald Trump’s lead and trolling Democrats rather than working on a compromise. The GOP is accusing Democrats of using the shutdown for political gain. Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told Fox News yesterday that the House GOP has done its job by passing a stopgap funding bill, laying the blame on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
• But the impacts go well beyond political spats: Federal employees, a significant majority of whom work outside the Washington, DC, area, face uncertainty about their next paycheck. Food banks are preparing for increased demand from furloughed workers. Americans who wanted to spend the weekend at national parks and museums are making new plans.
• Faint signs of concern in Trump’s orbit: Trump has embraced the political battle, but quiet concerns are building among his allies that the politics of the shutdown may prove more complicated than they initially hoped. In early polling, Americans are just as likely to fault Trump as they are congressional Democrats.