10 things you need to know today: December 17, 2018

White House braces for a possible shutdown over Trump's wall, a Senate report details Russia's alleged pro-Trump disinformation, and more

The U.S. Capitol
(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

1. White House starts preparing for possible government shutdown

The White House on Sunday took steps to prepare for a possible government shutdown later this week, as the Trump administration and congressional Democrats remained deadlocked over President Trump's insistence on allocating $5 billion for his promised border wall. "We will do whatever is necessary to build the border wall to stop this ongoing crisis of immigration," said White House senior adviser Stephen Miller. Trump said last week after a testy meeting with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that he would be "proud" to shut down the government to push for the border security he says his wall would provide. Democrats are willing to approve $1.6 billion for fencing upgrades and other border security spending, but no wall.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.