Partial govt shutdown looms as Trump, Congress feud over budget for US-Mexico border wall

A partial government shutdown which could leave about a quarter of the federal workforce without paychecks looms should President Donald Trump and the US Congress fail to reach a deal on the proposed US-Mexico border in the next five days.

Trump has demanded $5 billion as a down-payment on construction of a huge wall that he argues is the only way to keep illegal immigrants and drugs from entering the United States.

“Anytime you hear a Democrat saying that you can have good Border Security without a Wall, write them off as just another politician following the party line!” Trump wrote in a Twitter posting on Monday.

“Time for us to save billions of dollars a year and have, at the same time, far greater safety and control.”

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However, Democrats and some Republicans argue there are less costly, more effective border controls.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opened the Senate on Monday urging completion of a spending bill. “We need to make a substantial investment in the integrity of our border and in the safety of American our families instead on spending big on a wall,” McConnell said.

The money Trump wants is a fraction of the roughly $450 billion Congress was poised to approve – before the latest battle over the proposed wall – to fund several agencies which will otherwise run out of money on Friday.

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