Lawmakers return to Washington with slim hopes of ending the government shutdown

Trump and his wall prototypes
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

The Senate will gavel into session Thursday afternoon but few senators are expected to attend and House members have been told there will be no votes until at least Friday on reopening the federal government, now six days into the third and final partial shutdown of 2018. Nine Cabinet-level departments and numerous agencies closed Saturday after President Trump made clear he wouldn't sign a spending bill without $5 billion for a border wall. About 420,000 federal workers are currently working without pay and 380,000 have been furloughed. Many national parks are shuttered.

Democrats are offering $1.3 billion for border security and fence maintenance, and negotiations are continuing, everything from the price tag to what constitutes a "wall" up for debate. On Wednesday, Trump reiterated he will do "whatever it takes" to get his wall. House Democrats say leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will introduce the stopgap spending measure the Senate approved, with no wall funding, on Jan. 3, when Democrats take control of the House; the Senate would have to pass it again. It's unclear Trump would sign it. "If Democrats believe that this president is going to yield on this particular issue, they are misreading him," Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), one of the lawmakers who helped convince Trump to opt for the shutdown, told CNN on Wednesday.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.