WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats wasted no time flexing their new power in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday by approving legislation backed by new Speaker Nancy Pelosi that would end a 13-day partial government shutdown, ignoring President Donald Trump’s demand for $5 billion for a border wall.
The White House on Thursday issued a veto threat against both parts of the Democratic legislation. But that did not deter House Democrats.
Thursday marked the first day of divided government in Washington since Trump took office in January 2017, as Democrats took control in the House from his fellow Republicans, who remain in charge of the Senate.
The 2019-2020 Congress convened with roughly a quarter of the federal government closed, affecting 800,000 employees, in a shutdown triggered by Trump’s demand last month for the money for a U.S.-Mexican border wall – opposed by Democrats – as part of any legislation funding government agencies.
The two-part Democratic package includes a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security at current levels through Feb. 8, providing $1.3 billion for border fencing and $300 million for other border security items including technology and cameras.
The second part would fund the other federal agencies that are now unfunded including the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, Commerce and Justice, through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.
“We’re not doing a wall. It has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with a wall is an immorality between countries. It’s an old way of thinking. It isn’t cost effective,” Pelosi told reporters late on Thursday.
As speaker, Pelosi now is situated to lead Democratic opposition to Trump’s agenda and carry out investigations of his administration following two years during which congressional Republicans largely acquiesced to the president.
Trump on Thursday made an unannounced appearance in the White House briefing room to make the case for the border wall, accompanied by members of a union that represents border patrol agents that endorsed him for president in 2016. He congratulated Pelosi on her selection as speaker and said: “Hopefully we’re going to work together.”
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