The Latest: WH tries to keep Hill Republicans from defecting
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the partial government shutdown (all times local):
10 a.m.
The White House is trying to keep jittery congressional Republicans from defecting over the toll the partial government shutdown is taking in their states.
President Donald Trump and Democrats have been at an impasse over funding for his proposed border wall, which has led to a partial government shutdown, now in its 19th day.
Trump meets with Senate Republicans Wednesday on Capitol Hill just hours after he argued on national television that a border wall was needed to resolve a security and humanitarian “crisis.”
Senators say the shutdown has led to disruptions in agricultural payments for farmers, as well as for home buyers trying to secure government-backed home loans. Lawmakers also are worried about missed paychecks for government workers Friday.
As many as half a dozen GOP senators have said the government should reopen while border security negotiations with Democrats continue.
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1:25 a.m.
President Donald Trump again linked illegal immigration along the southern border with drugs and violent crime as he urged Democratic lawmakers to fund his proposed border wall.
In his first national address from the Oval Office, the president gave no indication he was softening his stance that the partial government shutdown would continue without money for the wall.
Trump argued Tuesday night that the wall was needed to resolve what he called a security and humanitarian “crisis.”
He addressed the nation as the shutdown stretched through its third week, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers going without pay and some congressional Republicans growing increasingly jittery about the impasse.
Trump plans to visit Senate Republicans at the Capitol on Wednesday before meeting with Democratic leaders at the White House.