House approves bill to reopen the government, sends measure to Trump for his signature

WASHINGTON - Congress sent legislation to President Donald Trump on Friday to temporarily reopen the government, ending the longest shutdown in history while handing Democrats a major political victory in the protracted standoff.

The House unanimously approved the bill hours after the Senate backed the measure by voice vote. Trump was expected to sign the bill into law.

The pact, announced by Trump from the Rose Garden at the White House, would reopen shuttered government departments for three weeks while leaving the issue of $5.7 billion for a U.S.-Mexico border wall to further talks.

Trump said that a congressional conference committee would spend the next three weeks working in a bipartisan fashion to come up with a border security package.

If a "fair deal" does not emerge by Feb. 15, Trump said, there could be another government shutdown or he could declare a national emergency, a move that could allow him to direct the military to build the wall without congressional consent. Such an action would likely face an immediate legal challenge.

"No border security plan can never work without a physical barrier. It just doesn't happen," Trump said in his remarks, during which he dwelled on his arguments for making good on his marquee campaign promise of a wall at the Mexican border.

[Murkowski championed bipartisan shutdown deal accepted by president]

Since the Dec. 22 start of the partial shutdown, Trump had insisted that Democrats must relent to his demand for wall funding before he would allow the government to reopen. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had insisted on no negotiations until the shutdown ended.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said he believes Trump's threat of another shutdown is credible.

"I believe it is. I hope calmer heads will prevail here," McCarthy said.

Trump said he was asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to put legislation on the floor immediately to implement the deal.

In remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell said he hopes Democrats are willing to negotiate "in good faith" in coming weeks.

"The only way our border is going to have real security, is if Democrats stop playing partisan games and get serious about negotiating with the president on a long-term compromise," he said. "The days ahead will tell us whether our Democratic colleagues are actually serious about securing our nation, whether they actually mean what they say."

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the deal struck with Trump reflected the insistence of Democrats that funding the government be separated from policy disagreements over border security.

"This agreement endorses that position," Schumer said. "It reopens the government without any preconditions and gives Democrats and Republicans an opportunity to discuss border security without holding hundreds of thousands of American workers hostage."

In his remarks, Trump called federal workers “incredible patriots.” As the shutdown stretched into its 35th day Friday, about 800,000 government workers missed a second paycheck.

[As shutdown ends, federal workers have little faith about future]

Trump's announcement came as major delays at airports around the country produced a heightened sense of urgency.

The impetus to reach a solution had clearly increased among lawmakers of both parties in recent days, as the mushrooming effects of the shutdown have become more apparent.

That included reports Friday of significant delays at key airports in the northeast because of absences of unpaid air traffic controllers that could multiply across the country at other airports. Federal officials temporarily restricted flights into and out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport, while travelers were grounded for extended periods in other cities, including Newark and Philadelphia.

The shutdown was also creating a strain on the Internal Revenue Service. At least 14,000 unpaid workers in the IRS division that includes tax processing and call centers did not show up for work this week despite orders to do so, according to two House aides.

Before Trump's announcement, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Friday that the airport delays in particular "ratchets up pressure tremendously" to reopen government, saying the developments could prove "very damaging to the American economy."

Talks between McConnell and Schumer began Thursday following the chamber's failure to pass either of two competing bills to end the impasse.

Pelosi said earlier Friday that House Democrats were holding off on plans to unveil a border-security proposal expected to match or exceed the $5.7 billion Trump has demanded for a southern border wall - but one that focuses on other initiatives and does not direct funding for the wall Trump is seeking.

Pelosi said, "We want to see what's happening on the Senate side."

She later went on Twitter, writing that the "#TrumpShutdown has already pushed hundreds of thousands of Americans to the breaking point. Now it's pushing our airspace to the breaking point too."

".@realDonaldTrump, stop endangering the safety, security and well-being of our nation. Re-open government now!" Pelosi added.

A Washington Post-ABC poll released shortly before Trump spoke suggested the protracted shutdown was taking a toll on his popularity.

The poll found that public disapproval of the president had swollen five points to 58 percent over three months, as a majority of Americans continued to hold him and congressional Republicans most responsible for the shutdown.

Some lawmakers expressed frustration at the notion of a short-term solution even before Trump spoke.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he would prefer to see a broader deal that includes "a permanent plan" on how to deal with young undocumented immigrants known as "dreamers" and some other immigration issues.

“Why don’t we do it one time and get it behind us?” Scott asked.