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A government shutdown, big or small, is usually a front-and-center issue for lawmakers — but the most recent partial closure could be put on the back burner as Congress returns to several issues in Washington.
Senate Democrats and the White House are still at odds over funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as the shutdown dragged into its tenth day. Neither side is budging, with the most recent concrete action coming early last week.
Trump, who proved pivotal in striking a funding truce with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in January, was not directly involved in recent negotiations.
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President Donald Trump has not had any “direct conversations or correspondence” with congressional Democrats recently. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press )
Trump has not had any “direct conversations or correspondence” with congressional Democrats recently, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, noting that the White House and its representatives have been handling the dialogue.
“But, of course, Democrats are the reason that the Department of Homeland Security is currently shut down,” she said. “They have chosen to act against the American people for political reasons.”
Senate Democrats offered a counter to the White House’s own counterproposal, which quickly was rejected as “unserious” by Leavitt. It’s a peculiar instance, given that this is the third shutdown during Trump’s second term, and neither side appears to be in a particular rush to end it.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus have not relented in their position as DHS enters its tenth day of being shut down. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that there’s “some room for…
