Trump, Congress agree to end longest government shutdown
Published 5:42 pm Friday, January 25, 2019
WASHINGTON (AP) — Submitting to mounting pressure and growing disruption, President Donald Trump agreed to a deal Friday to reopen the government for three weeks, backing down from his demand that Congress give him money for his border wall before federal agencies get back to work.
Standing alone in the Rose Garden, Trump said he would sign legislation funding shuttered agencies until Feb. 15 and try again to persuade lawmakers to finance his long-sought wall. The deal he reached with congressional leaders contains no new money for the wall.
Trump’s retreat came in the 35th day of the partial shutdown as intensifying delays at the nation’s airports and a missed payday for hundreds of thousands of federal workers brought new urgency to efforts to resolve the standoff.
The shutdown was ending as Democratic leaders had insisted it must — reopen the government first, then talk border security. “The president thought he could crack Democrats and he didn’t and I hope it’s a lesson for him,” said the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of her members: “Our unity is our power. And that is what maybe the president underestimated.”