NEW YORK, Jan 26 (APP):President Donald Trump signed a congressional resolution on Friday night that ended the longest government shutdown in US history, according to a White House statement.
The bill temporarily opens the government for three weeks without giving Trump his coveted funding for a wall along the border with Mexico top stop illegal migration.
Trump skipped the fanfare of a public signing ceremony and instead signed the continuing resolution behind closed doors at the White House in Washington, less than 12 hours after he backed down from his demand that Congress provide more border wall money before federal agencies get back to work.But he warned that the government could shut down again “if we don’t get a fair deal from Congress.”
He tweeted on Friday night that the battle for the wall was not over.
“This was in no way a concession,” Trump wrote. “It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the Shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races!”
The agreement to open the government came as about 800,000 federal employees missed their second consecutive paycheck.
The president’s decision Friday to agree to end the shutdown without securing money for the border wall spawned immediate criticism from conservatives, who warned that he had weakened his negotiating position with Democrats going forward.
Trump tried to defend himself from that criticism Friday night on Twitter, saying the deal was “in no way a concession.”
“I wish people would read or listen to my words on the Border Wall. This was in no way a concession. It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the Shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races!” he wrote.
In exchange for Trump agreeing to fully reopen the government, the House and Senate formally went to conference Friday to try to hash out a deal on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bills, including border funding.
The president said that after more than a month he had heard from enough Republicans and Democrats who were “willing to put partisanship aside — I think — and put the security of the American people first. I do believe they are going to do that.”
The 21-day stopgap bill will set up another deadline in mid-February for Trump and lawmakers to resolve the fight over construction of a border wall. Trump’s demand for wall funding has been at the center of the budgetary stalemate that began Dec. 22.
