Trump annouces deal to end US govt shutdown - for three weeks

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington to announce a temporary halt to the government shutdown. Photo / AP

Congressional leaders and US President Donald Trump have reached a tentative deal to temporarily reopen the government and continue talks on Trump's demand for border wall money, Capitol Hill officials said today (US time).

With Trump's approval, the pact would reopen shuttered government departments for the three weeks while leaving the issue of $5.7 billion for the US-Mexico border wall to further talks.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

Trump speaking from the Rose Garden of the White House announced an end to the shutdown for a period of three weeks. Officials said the tentative deal was subject to change until announced by Trump.

The developments came as Senate leaders scrambled yesterday in search of a short-term deal to end the partial government shutdown as major delays at airports around the country produced a heightened sense of urgency.

As the shutdown stretched into its 35th day on Friday, about 800,000 government workers missed another paycheck.

The impetus to reach a solution has clearly increased among lawmakers of both parties in recent days, as the mushrooming effects of the shutdown have become more apparent.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Photo / AP

That included reports yesterday of significant delays at key airports in the northeast due to absences of unpaid air traffic controllers that could multiply around the country at other airports. Federal officials temporarily restricted flights into and out of New York's LaGuardia Airport, while travelers were grounded for extended periods in other cities, including Newark and Philadelphia.

The shutdown was also creating a strain on the Internal Revenue Service. At least 14,000 unpaid workers in the IRS division that includes tax processing and call centers did not show up for work this week despite orders to do so, according to two House aides.

Democrat Tim Kaine said Friday that the airport delays in particular "ratchets up pressure tremendously" to reopen government, saying the developments could prove "very damaging to the American economy."

Emerging from his office yesterday, McConnell ignored questions from reporters about the airport issues. Speaking about the shutdown more broadly, he said there are "discussions about the way forward, and as soon as we have some news we'll be happy to give it to you."

McConnell was waiting to get clearer direction from the White House about what is acceptable to the president, a Democratic aide familiar with the talks said. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

Talks between McConnell and Schumer began on Thursday following the chamber's failure to pass either of two competing bills to end the impasse. The focus now is on a short-term agreement to open shuttered government departments for about three weeks.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has traded pointed barbs with Trump in recent days, told reporters at the Capitol that she was not part of those deliberations.

"The discussions are on the Senate side," Pelosi said. "We're in touch with them. ... We'll see what happens today. One step at time."

Pelosi said House Democrats were holding off on plans to unveil a border-security plan expected to match or exceed the $5.7 billion Trump has put forward for a southern border wall - but one that focuses on other initiatives and does not include any of the wall funding Trump is seeking.

Pelosi said, "We want to see what's happening on the Senate side."

She later went on Twitter, writing that the "#TrumpShutdown has already pushed hundreds of thousands of Americans to the breaking point. Now it's pushing our airspace to the breaking point too."

"@realDonaldTrump, stop endangering the safety, security and well-being of our nation. Re-open government now!" Pelosi added.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., echoed those sentiments in a statement and said that "no one can ignore the far-reaching effects of Republicans' dangerous and failed strategy of shutting down the government in order to demand taxpayer funding for an expensive, ineffective border wall."

The Association of Flight Attendants also pointed to the airport delays in a bid to put pressure on lawmakers to reopen government.

"Do we have you attention, Congress?" Sara Nelson, the group's president, said in a statement. "Open the government and then get back to the business of democracy to discuss whatever issue you so choose. This shutdown must end immediately. Our country's economy is on the line."

Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said he thinks it's possible lawmakers could strike a deal to reopen the government on Friday.

"I don't want to get into the specifics, but I do think it's possible," he said. "A lot of conversations are being had, as they have been, but you know there's no time like the present to find a solution or at least get moving."

"There's certainly urgency," he added.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he was hopeful the Senate could vote on legislation either Friday or over the weekend on a short-term measure.

"We're trying to figure out exactly what we can do that makes each side feel like there's some good faith and then come up with a solution," Tillis said.

Kaine said he was optimistic that senators are "on a path to a breakthrough."

"Everybody's got to be willing to shake hands on the short term and then work through a process where we can shake hands on the long term," he said. "I think both leaders are now saying, you know, we gotta do this for the good of the country. You may not be able to predict what the president will do, but we have to act."

In a television interview Friday morning, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders insisted that Trump "isn't hung up on the wall" but said that any border-security package would need to include wall funding.

"The president isn't hung up on the wall," Sanders said on CNN. "The president is committed to protecting our country, and the wall is part of that process. You can't just fix one piece of the problem."

Sanders continued to blame Democrats for the impasse, saying, "They are not fulling their obligations."

"They need to sit down at the table with the president, and they need to fix real problems that America is facing," Sanders said.

Sanders later issued a statement saying that Trump had been briefed on "the ongoing delays at some airports" and that the White House is in regular contact with transportation officials.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday after the Senate blocked his proposed border solution and a competing Democratic plan, the president said that if McConnell and Schumer could come up with a "reasonable agreement," he would support it.

Asked if he could support a plan that didn't include wall funding, Trump said: "I have other alternatives if I have to . . . we have to have a wall in this situation." Trump has suggested declaring a national emergency to circumvent Congress and use the military to build the wall, a possibility that remains on the table if the impasse continues.