“It’s like a 2-year-old temper tantrum,” Short told reporters at the White House, where there was a growing sense that the shutdown won’t be quickly resolved.
Right around midnight Friday, Senate Democrats killed a GOP-written House-passed measure that would have kept agencies functioning for four weeks. Democrats were seeking a stopgap bill of just a few days in hopes that would build pressure on Republicans, and they were opposing a three-week alternative offered by GOP leaders.
Democrats have insisted they would back legislation reopening government once there’s a bipartisan agreement to preserve protections against deporting about 700,000 immigrants — known as “Dreamers” — who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children. Each party believes it has a winning political hand, and the day’s first words by party leaders underscored that, so far, neither side believes it is time to give ground.
“The American people cannot begin to understand why the Senate Democratic leader thinks the entire government should be shut down until he gets his way on illegal immigration,” McConnell said.
