How many congressmen have left DC for the holiday?
Via Daily Mail:
U.S. President Donald Trump will remain in Washington through Christmas ‘due to the shutdown,’ White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Saturday.
‘Due to the shutdown, President Trump will remain in Washington, D.C. and the first lady will return from Florida so they can spend Christmas together,’ Sanders said.
Both sides of the House now anticipate that the impasse will continue into the first weeks of January.
House Minority leader Nanci Pelosi warned Saturday night that ‘it is unlikely that there will be any progress to end the Trump shutdown in the next several days.’
In a message to her caucus on Saturday night, The Democrat, who is the presumed next House speaker, claimed:
‘Until President Trump can publicly commit to a bipartisan resolution, there will be no agreement before January when the new House Democratic Majority will swiftly pass legislation to re-open government.
‘Please be assured you will be made aware of any developments to re-open government in the days ahead’.
On Saturday Vice President Mike Pence visited the U.S. Capitol to meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a bid to broker a deal that would avoid the shutdown lasting longer.
He left the Senate leader’s office empty-handed about 30 minutes later, telling reporters that the two sides were ‘still talking’.
A Schumer aide said that the vice president ‘made an offer. Unfortunately, we’re still very far apart’, the aide told CBS News.
Schumer said the ‘Trump shutdown’ could end immediately if the president simply dropped his demand for money. ‘If you want to open the government, you must abandon the wall,’ Schumer said.
Trump had been scheduled to travel to his Florida resort with his family for the end of year holidays, but said on Friday he would stay in Washington if he and lawmakers failed to strike a budget deal to avert a partial government shutdown.