U.S. government shutdown will enter its third day on Monday as Senate negotiators failed to reach agreement late on Sunday to restore federal spending authority and deal with demands from Democrats that young “Dreamers” be protected from deportation.
President Trump suggested Sunday that Senate Republicans change chamber rules and resort to the “nuclear option” so that they can pass a long-term budget with a simple, 51vote majority, amid their funding stalemate with Democrats that has resulted in a government shutdown.
This is because, under Senate rules, the bill needs 60 votes in the 100 member chamber to overcome blocking tactics by opponents. The Republicans currently have 51 senators which is why they need some Democratic support to pass a budget.
Trump is calling on Republicans to invoke the “nuclear option” to try to pass a “real, long term” spending bill rather than continue funding the government through a short-term measure.
However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is opposed to taking Trump’s advice and changing the rules as he did this past summer when Trump suggested McConnell use the so-called nuclear option to end a Democratic filibuster so Republicans could repeal and replace ObamaCare.
The president also argued that Democrats were placing the nation’s borders under threat by opposing a short-term budget fix. “The Dems just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked,” he tweeted.
The remarks followed an aggressive Trump campaign ad released on Saturday, which said Democrats opposing the president’s hardline immigration agenda were “complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants”.
Such a move would allow Republicans to pass legislation without Democratic support, lowering the majority needed to pass a bill to 51 votes. It is however not favoured by the GOP Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, who would in any case not have had enough votes to avert the shutdown on his own.
>Juthy Saha
Trump Calls for 'Nuclear Option' to End Government Shutdown
