On day 4 of a four-day weekend.
Via USA Today:
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi accused President Donald Trump of using “scare tactics” to build support for his proposed U.S.-Mexican border wall, which she joked had been reduced from a giant, cement structure “to, I think, a beaded curtain.”
Trump and congressional Democrats remained locked in a bitter stalemate Tuesday over billions of dollars in funding for the wall, which Trump said is necessary to end a partial government shutdown heading into its fourth day. Most lawmakers are home for the holiday, so a speedy resolution would amount to a Christmas miracle.
While wishing a Merry Christmas to troops overseas, Trump said he doesn’t know when the government shutdown will end.
“It’s a disgrace what’s happening in our country,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “But other than that, I wish everybody a very Merry Christmas.”
Though congressional Democrats said they will not support money for a border wall, Trump said the United States needs “a wall, a fence, whatever they want to call it.” The remarks underscore how dug in both the White House and congressional Democrats have become amid the shutdown that began Friday at midnight. […]
The Senate isn’t set to meet again until Thursday at the earliest, and White House officials predicted the shutdown could continue into the new Congress, which will begin Jan. 3. Democrats will take control of the House on that day, and Pelosi said she expects the chamber will pass legislation to reopen federal agencies quickly.
It’s unknown whether that measure would include additional money for the border.
“But one thing’s for sure, the first week of January, we will be passing legislation to open up government,” Pelosi said.