WASHINGTON: USPresident Donald Trump on Friday brought a temporary end to the longestgovernment shutdown in US history, while dropping his previous insistence onimmediate funding for wall construction along the Mexican border. Theannouncement in the White House Rose Garden on the bipartisan deal marked aretreat by Trump, suspending a row that paralyzed Washington, disrupted airtravel, and left more than 800,000 federal employees without pay for five weeks.
The topDemocratic senator, Chuck Schumer, said he hoped Trump had "learned hislesson". The Senate and House of Representatives both passed the deal byunanimous consent Friday. The White House later confirmed Trump had signed itinto law. Trump's reversal came as the full weight of the shutdown, includingthe financial cost on struggling employees and the national economy, becameclear, and as the president appeared outfoxed by his political nemesis NancyPelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives.
But while Trumpclimbed down in agreeing to reopen government without first getting $5.7billion in border wall funds, he still threatened to renew hostilities with anew shutdown, or a state of emergency, if there is no breakthrough on his petproject in the next three weeks. "Over the next 21 days, I expect thatboth Democrats and Republicans will operate in good faith," he said as heannounced he would reopen the government.
"If we don'tget a fair deal from Congress, the government either shuts down on February15th again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws andConstitution of the United States to address this emergency," he warned."We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steelbarrier." S&P Global Ratings said late Friday that the shutdown cost"is likely worse than what we had previously expected." Based ontheir analysis, "the US economy lost at least $6 billion ... larger thanthe $5.7 billion that the White House requested for the border wall," itsaid in a statement.
Trump triggeredthe shutdown in December to pressure congressional Democrats to give himfunding for the border wall. But the House Democrats calculated that voterswould blame Trump for the ensuing chaos - and polls showed they were correct.Federal workers as varied as museum employees and US Coast Guard sailors wereleft without salaries. Even Secret Service agents guarding the White House havebeen working without pay.
By Friday theshutdown impact was focused on airports, where enough federally employedsecurity staff had called in sick to slow down overall operations. Air trafficcontrollers were working without pay and in New Jersey's busy Newark LibertyInternational Airport staffing issues led to delays, raising the specter of awider degradation of US air travel. This raised pressure to reach a deal - andTrump buckled, even at the risk of angering his rightwing voter base.
Conservativecommentator Ann Coulter wasted no time in lashing out. "Good news for GeorgeHerbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever toserve as President of the United States," she tweeted, referring to thelate president, a Republican moderate.
Trump says moreborder walls are needed to stop what he says are crisis levels of criminals andillegal immigration. Democrats say his focus on the wall distracts from morecomplex immigration problems and is used to whip up his base for politicalgain. On Thursday, two competing bills to end the partial shutdown failed inthe Senate, underscoring the inability of Democrats and Trump's Republicans toagree on a compromise that to reopen government and commit to wallconstruction.
Trump has spokenfor weeks about using his presidential authority to declare a border emergencyand bypass Congress, allowing himself to take funds from other sources for thewall. However this would almost certainly be challenged in court. So whileTrump had said he would not "cave" in the standoff, the president wasleft with little alternative.
At his WhiteHouse announcement, Trump sought to thank the federal workers who suffered ascollateral damage in the political battle, saying they showed"extraordinary devotion in the face of this recent hardship". ButTiffany Cruz, who works at LaGuardia Airport in New York, which was also badlyhit by delays, said she had little faith in Trump. "He's just reopening(government) at his convenience," she said. "I don't believe he caresabout anything but himself."
With the shutdownending, the question arises whether Trump will be re-invited to deliver hisState of the Union address in Congress next Tuesday. Pelosi, who outfoxed himin the five-week showdown, had insisted he not deliver his speech untilgovernment reopened. On Friday she said the schedule remained undecided. - AFP