INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
By Erik Wasson and Anna EdgertonThe new House Democratic majority voted Thursday to end partial government shutdown but brought Congress no
morning.
Republican Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, a close confidant of Trump and chairman of conservative House Freedom
came hours after opening of 116th Congress and election of Nancy Pelosi in a triumphant return as House speaker, only woman to serve in
She first served as speaker from 2007 to 2011.
The House voted 239-192 to pass first government spending bill, H.J
1, which would reopen Department of Homeland Security through Feb
8 to allow time for continued talks on border wall
The chamber then passed a second measure, H.R
21, which would open other eight shuttered cabinet departments through September, on a 241-190 vote.
Standing By TrumpThe votes were along
is seeking for a wall at border with Mexico.
But Democrats contended GOP should back spending measures, because Republican-controlled Senate
or its committees voted overwhelmingly to pass them before president reversed course and announced his opposition in December to any plan
departments of Treasury, Commerce, Justice, Agriculture, State, Interior, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development
continued to harden their positions, Trump made a surprise appearance Thursday in White House briefing room with border patrol agents to
22, first day of shutdown, in which Trump would accept $2.5 billion for border security
Trump later disavowed offer, saying he needed $5.6 billion for a wall.
Senate Democrats in August backed $1.6 billion for border security,
thousands of federal workers
These workers received paychecks at end of December but will miss their next checks on Jan
11 unless agencies reopen
That could create a deadline for talks next week.
Another 380,000 employees have been furloughed without pay.
For public, visible signs of
shutdown have come in form of overflowing trash at national parks, closed museums in Washington, and a lack of guidance from Internal
Revenue Service as first tax filing season begins under new tax code enacted in 2017
Financial markets are flying blind as Commerce and Agriculture departments suspended regular reports.
The partial shutdown will cut United
States economic output by about 0.1 percent every two weeks, said Kevin Hassett, chairman of White House Council of Economic
Advisers.
Earlier Thursday, House voted 234-197 to pass part of its package of legislative rules -- normally a routine matter, but a few
Only Democrat Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii joined them in voting against rules.
