A bipartisan group of senators plan to send a letter to President Trump today requesting that he support a short-term spending bill that will reopen the government for three weeks while the White House and Congress negotiate on funding for border security.
A source involved in the effort leaked Axios draft text of the letter, which was first published by Politico.
A Trump administration official told Axios that “Sen. Graham et al. were told last week that a short term reopen for the Senate to work on a solution was DOA [dead on arrival]."
During a White House lunch focused on ending the government shutdown with House Republicans Tuesday, President Trump remained committed to his demand for $5.7 billion for a wall on the southern border, while continuing to distance himself from declaring a national emergency in order to get it.
“The topic was brought up only once — not by the president — and we spent hardly any time on it,” Congresswoman Susan Brooks (R-Ind.), who attended the lunch, told Axios.
Why it matters: On day 25 of the shutdown, there is still complete gridlock between Democrats and Republicans on how to reopen the government. And while at this time last week the president was considering declaring a national emergency as a way to bypass Congress to get border funding and end the shutdown fight, GOP members who were present at today’s lunch told Axios that Trump is now set on getting Democrats to negotiate, and that he shows no signs of backing down until they do.
Meanwhile, several Democrats, including some who rejected the White House’s request to attend today’s meeting, have said they don’t think a compromise on the border wall is appropriate until the government is reopened.
What’s next: Trump’s strategic communications director, Mercedes Schlapp, told reporters today that the president will host bipartisan members of the Problem Solvers Caucus at the White House this week.
Go deeper:
The State Department is flying every U.S. ambassador from around the world to Washington next week, regardless of whether the government remains shut down, according to two internal emails leaked to Axios.
Why it matters: The State Department has been under financial strain during the shutdown, with employees on unpaid furlough and some resources halted.
Bloomberg first reported that the conference is still scheduled to go ahead.
The organizers of the global Chiefs of Missions (COM) conference — held from Jan. 16–17 — conceded in their internal email that “under the current circumstances” meetings with members of Congress “cannot be guaranteed.”
Between the lines: A State Department spokesman told me they’re persisting with the conference for national security reasons.
Details: The annual COM conference was launched in 2011 under the Obama administration to convene all U.S. ambassadors in one place and give them an opportunity to meet with key government officials in Washington.
