US government set to shuts down over border wall disputes

TEHRAN (defapress) – The US federal government partially shut down after members of Congress failed to resolve disputes over $5 billion in spending for President Donald Trump’s border wall.

News ID: 74481

Date: 22 December 2018 - 11:04

Trump had previously said he would be "proud' to shut down the government unless he received the $5 billion he is seeking to fund the construction of a barrier along the U.S.'s southern border, Anadolu reported.

According to Sputnik, funding for key government operations expired at 11:59:59 pm on 21 December (around 5:00 am GMT on 22 December). Earlier in the day, the Senate failed to reach a compromise over a House-passed bill and decided to adjourn until 22 December.

Building a wall on the US-Mexico border was one of Trump's key promises throughout his presidential campaign. The US President believes that the wall will stop illegal migration, as well as human and drugs trafficking.

The Senate earlier this week passed a stopgap spending bill that would have funded through February the agencies that have shut down. But it did not include funding for Trump's wall, and as it headed to the House, the president hastily called a meeting with its leaders, who tacked on to the bill the funds Trump is seeking, sending it back to the Senate for consideration, where it was dead on arrival.

The federal government previously closed twice this year. A three-day shutdown in January took place over a weekend and a February closure only lasted for a day. All three shutdowns this year involved disputes over immigration.

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