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U.S. Government Shutdown Enters 3rd Day, Senate To Vote Again Noon Monday

Neither Republicans nor Democrats seem to be ready to compromise.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to the Oval Office of the White House upon his return to Washington from Pittsburgh on Jan. 18, 2018.
Yuri Gripas/Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to the Oval Office of the White House upon his return to Washington from Pittsburgh on Jan. 18, 2018.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A U.S. government shutdown will enter its third day on Monday as Senate negotiators failed to reach a deal late on Sunday on Democrats' demand for legislation protecting "Dreamers," young people brought to the country illegally as children.

The Senate set a vote for 12 p.m. ET on Monday on advancing a measure that would provide temporary government funding through Feb. 8 and allow thousands of federal employees to return to work.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also offered an olive branch to Democrats when he pledged in remarks on the Senate floor to bring immigration legislation to a floor debate in early February if the issue had not been dealt with by then.

"It would be my intention to proceed to legislation that would address DACA, border security and related issues," McConnell said, adding: "It is also my intention take up legislation on increased defense spending, disaster relief and other important matters" then.

It was not clear whether enough Democrats would vote on Monday to advance the temporary spending bill and end the government shutdown.

Funding for federal agencies ran out at midnight on Friday, and was not renewed amid a dispute between President Donald Trump and Democrats over the politically acrimonious issue of immigration.

Refusing to support another short-term government funding extension last week, Democrats demanded that the Republican president live up to an earlier agreement to protect Dreamers from deportation.

"I hope it is just a matter of hours or days. But we need to have a substantive answer, and the only person who can lead us to that is President Trump. This is his shutdown," Dick Durbin, the second ranking Democrat in the Senate, said on the CBS "Face the Nation" program.

Republicans were just as adamant, saying they would not negotiate immigration or other issues as long as all but essential government services remain shuttered.

Speaking to U.S. troops at a military base in the Middle East, Vice President Mike Pence said, "We're not going to reopen negotiations on illegal immigration until they reopen the government and give you, our soldiers and your families, the benefits and wages you've earned."

US Vice President Mike Pence waves as he steps off a US Air Force C-17 plane upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel.
JACK GUEZ via Getty Images
US Vice President Mike Pence waves as he steps off a US Air Force C-17 plane upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel.

After funding for federal agencies ran out at midnight on Friday, many U.S. government employees were told to stay home or in some cases work without pay until new funding is approved. The shutdown is the first since a 16-day closure in October 2013.

With elections set for November for a third of U.S. Senate seats and the entire House of Representatives, both sides are maneuvering to blame the other for the shutdown.

Trump, who canceled a planned trip to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that included a major fundraiser on the anniversary of his first year as president, said on Sunday that if the stalemate continued, Republicans should change Senate rules so a measure could be passed to fund the government.

Current Senate rules require a super-majority of three-fifths of the chamber, usually 60 out of 100, for legislation to clear procedural hurdles and pass.

"The Dems (Democrats) just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked. If stalemate continues, Republicans should go to 51 percent (Nuclear Option) and vote on real, long term budget," Trump said on Twitter.

But a senior member of Trump's own Republican party rejected the idea.

Senator Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said he and his colleagues oppose changing the chamber's rules so that a simple majority could advance legislation to fund the government and to end the current shutdown, according to a spokesman.

Republicans hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate.

'Keeping hope alive'

On Capitol Hill, Senator John Thune, a junior member of the Republican leadership, said there was "no progress to report" in negotiations but that McConnell's office was open for business and for talks with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

"I'm kind of keeping hope alive here that before 1 a.m. tomorrow morning that we'll have something that gets us out of this jam," Thune told reporters.

The Senate will vote at 1 a.m. EST on Monday on whether to advance a measure to fund the government through Feb. 8, unless Democrats agree to hold it sooner, McConnell said on Saturday.

The level of support for the bill was uncertain, but given Democratic leaders' public statements, it seemed unlikely the measure would receive the 60 votes required to advance.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 19, 2018.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
White House budget director Mick Mulvaney holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 19, 2018.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said Trump had instructed him to ease the effects of the shutdown as much as possible.

"The president has told me, make sure as many people go to work Monday as possibly can. Use every tool legally available to you," Mulvaney said on "Face the Nation."

Amid the difficult and sensitive talks to reopen the government, Trump's campaign on Saturday released a 30-second advertisement on immigration that was posted on YouTube.

The ad focuses on the ongoing death penalty trial in Sacramento, California, of Luis Bracamontes, an illegal immigrant from Mexico accused of killing two local deputies in 2014.

"Pure evil," an announcer says in the spot. "President Trump is right. Build the wall. Deport criminals. Stop illegal immigration."

"Democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants," the announcer says.

Democrats condemned the spot, and Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan told "Face the Nation," "I don't know if that's necessarily productive."

Schumer and his colleagues accused Trump of being an unreliable negotiating partner, saying the two sides came close to a deal on immigration several times, only to have Trump back out under pressure from anti-immigration conservatives.

Schumer "put a lot on the table" in negotiations on Friday, which Trump accepted, then "walked it back," Democratic Senator Chris Coons said on the "Fox News Sunday" program.

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