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U.S. shutdown talks falter, Trump threatens emergency powers


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U.S. shutdown talks falter, Trump threatens emergency powers

By Richard Cowan and Jeff Mason

 

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U.S. President Donald Trump is accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, Rep Steve Scalise (R-LA) and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as he speaks with reporters following a meeting with congressional leadership on the ongoing partial government shutdown in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 4, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump and senior Democrats failed to strike a deal in talks on Friday to end a partial shutdown of the U.S. government as they again fought over Trump's request for $5 billion to fund his signature wall on the Mexican border.

 

After Democratic congressional leaders turned Trump down at a meeting in the White House Situation Room, the Republican president threatened to take the controversial step of using emergency powers to build the wall without approval from Congress.

 

Trump is withholding his support for a bill that would fully fund the government until he secures the money for the wall. As a result around 800,000 public workers have been unpaid, with about a quarter of the federal government closed for two weeks.

 

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats had told Trump during the meeting to end the shutdown.

"He resisted," Schumer said. "In fact, he said he'd keep the government closed for a very long period of time, months or even years."

 

Trump confirmed that comment but painted a more positive picture of the meeting, the first since a new era of divided government began when Democrats took control of the House of Representatives on Thursday.

 

"We had a very, very productive meeting, and we've come a long way," Trump said.

 

But raising the stakes in his tussle with the newly emboldened Democrats, Trump threatened extraordinary measures to build the wall, which he says is needed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States.

 

NATIONAL EMERGENCY?

 

Asked by a reporter whether he had considered declaring a national emergency to build the wall, Trump said: "Yes, I have ... I may do it ... we can call a national emergency and build it very quickly."

 

He said he could declare a national emergency "because of the security of our country, absolutely."

 

The U.S. Constitution assigns Congress the power over funding the federal government so Trump likely would face legal challenges if he tried to bypass Congress on financing the wall. Building a wall - and having Mexico pay for it - was one of Trump's main promises when he ran for president in 2016.

 

Trump's wall project is estimated to cost about $23 billion.

 

Democrats have called the wall immoral, ineffective and medieval.

 

Nancy Pelosi, the newly elected Democratic speaker of the House, said Friday's meeting with Trump was "sometimes contentious" but that they agreed to continue talking.

 

"But we recognise on the Democratic side that we really cannot resolve this until we open up government and we made that very clear to the president," she said.

 

Credit rating agency Moody's says the shutdown will cause minimal U.S. economic and credit market disruption but there could be a more severe impact on financial markets and the broad economy if the closure is protracted.

 

A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll last week showed that 50 percent of the public blame Trump for the shutdown and 7 percent blame Republican lawmakers, while 32 percent blame Democrats.

 

In a Dec. 11 meeting with Pelosi and Schumer, Trump said he would be "proud" to shut the government over the security issue and would not blame Democrats. He has since said they are responsible.

 

Administration officials and congressional staffers are set to continue meeting over the weekend to try to end the impasse.

 

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters that the leaders and Trump had decided to designate staff to work over the weekend. He said Trump had named Vice President Mike Pence, senior aide Jared Kushner and Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen.

 

The partial shutdown is straining the country's immigration system, worsening backlogs in courts and complicating hiring for employers.

 

Federal agencies such as the Justice Department, Commerce Department and departments of Agriculture, Labor, Interior and Treasury have been hit by the shutdown.

 

House Ways and Means Committee chair Richard Neal, a Democrat, asked the Internal Revenue Service in a letter on Friday to explain the possible effects of the shutdown on the upcoming tax filing season for millions of Americans.

 

 
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-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-01-05
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Let me get this straight: Trump wants to bypass Congress to snatch and grab $5 billion in fake emergency power use to hurry and partially build a $23 billion medieval wall before the 2020 election so he can keep his 38% dumb as rocks base at a time when 50% of the country says the shutdown is his fault.

 

Oh boy. Bring on the impeachment.

 

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1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

The U.S. Constitution assigns Congress the power over funding the federal government so Trump likely would face legal challenges if he tried to bypass Congress on financing the wall.

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

 

Yeah, that's how it works.  I think a main purpose by the framers of the Constitution was to put a check on executive overreach, which sometimes arises to tyranny. 

 

"Emergency power"?  How is this like, say, Pearl Harbor?

 

It kind of reminds me of Iran-Contra, except that Reagan's people were covert indicating that they understood how the Constitution worked. 

 

 

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Credit rating agency Moody's says the shutdown will cause minimal U.S. economic and credit market disruption but there could be a more severe impact on financial markets and the broad economy if the closure is protracted[Bold added.]

Yeah, like Keemapoot has just well-stated above (faster at typing than me?), this may invite impeachment.  And, I wonder, maybe even the 25th Amendment?  Surely, the party of fiscal responsibility and business, viz., the Republicans, are going to have some problems with all of this if Trump continues with his irrational stubbornness.

 

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

 

 

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Just now, helpisgood said:

Yeah, that's how it works.  I think a main purpose by the framers of the Constitution was to put a check on executive overreach, which sometimes arises to tyranny. 

 

It kind of reminds me of Iran-Contra, except that Reagan's people were covert indicating that they understood how the Constitution worked. 

 

Yeah, like Keemapoot has just well-stated above (faster at typing than me?), this may invite impeachment.  And, I wonder, maybe even the 25th Amendment?  Surely, the party of fiscal responsibility and business, viz., the Republicans, are going to have some problems with if Trump continues with his irrational stubbornness.

Yup. If Trump wants to trigger impeachment proceedings, this is a good way to do it. Severe abuse of power under the "Misdemeanors" category can be shown by invoking the emergency power without an evidentiary showing of "clear and present danger" of the emergency. There can be no such showing as there are not thousands or tens of thousands, or even hundreds of armed insurgents, terrorists or one-eyed pirates scrambling over the border etc..

 

His legal team is scrubbing this issue now, but I doubt they can make any case that rises to national emergency. He's toast.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1867/01/the-causes-for-which-a-president-can-be-impeached/548144/

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2 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

It's just posturing. He thought about it and didn't do it because he knows he couldn't get away with it. 

He's an idiot for using this threat. But that's all he does is threaten, insult, bully. Sometimes it can be an effective strategy with a country as powerful as the US. But internally, it won't work with a Democratic House now.

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How ironic. The head of a government is happy to see many departments of his govt shut down and the employees unpaid because he cant get money to start a construction. I wonder how long this impasse would last if it was the leaders of govt who were going without pay instead of the ordinary worker? Government that refuses to govern is quite simply unacceptable.

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1 minute ago, Lungstib said:

How ironic. The head of a government is happy to see many departments of his govt shut down and the employees unpaid because he cant get money to start a construction. I wonder how long this impasse would last if it was the leaders of govt who were going without pay instead of the ordinary worker? Government that refuses to govern is quite simply unacceptable.

Don't forget this head of government, in addition to plunging 1 million US federal worker families into personal financial crisis, secretly froze the salaries for 2019 of all federal workers during the shutdown by executive order. Adding insult to injury, he has now approved pay raises for his staff.  A peach of a guy.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/04/politics/mike-pence-pay-raise-shutdown/index.html

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5 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

It's just posturing. He thought about it and didn't do it because he knows he couldn't get away with it. 

He’s moving to full Dictator Mode, he’ll do whatever he can get away with.

 

He’s had two years of zero pushback from Republicans in Congress and the Senate and the baying support of his racist base.

 

He’s gotten used to it.

 

If he’s halted in his excesses, it will be the Democrats in Congress that stop him.

 

It does not bear thinking about where America would be headed had the Democrats not taken the house.

 

 

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9 minutes ago, keemapoot said:

He's an idiot for using this threat. But that's all he does is threaten, insult, bully. Sometimes it can be an effective strategy with a country as powerful as the US. But internally, it won't work with a Democratic House now.

 

A reporter asked him if he was threatening this and he answered he wasn't threatening anybody. he didn't do it so all of this self righteous anger is all over nothing. Maybe watch the entire press conference if you haven't. It was quite entertaining Donald was in good form. 

 

 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

A reporter asked him if he was threatening this and he answered he wasn't threatening anybody. he didn't do it so all of this self righteous anger is all over nothing. Maybe watch the entire press conference if you haven't. It was quite entertaining Donald was in good form. 

 

 

 

 

You mean like:

 

Thug makes clear unequivocal threat.

 

Person threaten asks (rhetorically) are you threatening me?

 

Thug responds, no I’m not threatening anyone.

 

 

That the thug is a proven habitual liar leads you to believe him.

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19 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

A reporter asked him if he was threatening this and he answered he wasn't threatening anybody. he didn't do it so all of this self righteous anger is all over nothing. Maybe watch the entire press conference if you haven't. It was quite entertaining Donald was in good form. 

 

 

 

 

That's good form !

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8 minutes ago, keemapoot said:

It really is clear from Trump supporters postings on this board. Trump really could shoot somebody point blank on Fifth Avenue and they would still support him. 

I doubt he could initially set foot on Fifth Avenue unscathed.

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Trump speaks of drugs coming in across the border, makes it sound like every man woman and child has a knapsack or picnic basket full of them. Talks about using emergency powers to get the 5 billion smackers to build HIS wall.

As this plays out, a trial is currently going on in the USA. The star witness is "A son of Ismael Zambada García, one of the cartel’s leaders, Mr. Zambada, from an early age, was groomed to take control of the group". He told "countless stories of Mr. Guzmán and his father shipping tons of drugs in cars, trains, planes and submarines — even in a truck beneath a load of frozen meat".

 

And Trump wants to build a $5 billion concrete wall to stop a few petty smugglers.

Get real Donald !

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39 minutes ago, keemapoot said:

It really is clear from Trump supporters postings on this board. Trump really could shoot somebody point blank on Fifth Avenue and they would still support him. 

 

It is really clear somebody could sneak into America and shoot people and the left would defend them. It would still be politically incorrect to say illegal immigrant. 

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1 minute ago, Cryingdick said:

 

It is really clear somebody could sneak into America and shoot people and the left would defend them. It would still be politically incorrect to say illegal immigrant. 

Spoken like a true-blue Trump supporter. Your nonsensical statement is worthy of the master himself.

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49 minutes ago, keemapoot said:

It really is clear from Trump supporters postings on this board. Trump really could shoot somebody point blank on Fifth Avenue and they would still support him. 

Pretty much... ???? 

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6 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Pretty much... ???? 

That just goes to show Mr Boon Mee, sad emoji man how misguided Trump supporters really are.

If they condone crime (shooters), that makes them as sick in the head as the man-child himself is.

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4 minutes ago, neeray said:

That just goes to show Mr Boon Mee, sad emoji man how misguided Trump supporters really are.

If they condone crime (shooters), that makes them as sick in the head as the man-child himself is.

 

Nobody condoned anything you made a pretty insipid  hypothetical statement and now you actually believe your own nonsense.

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The cartels are having an absolute hay day no coast guard Homeland security Donald is letting the wolves in the hen house with his dumb ass wall atta boy Donald you worry about laborers and women with kids looking for work meanwhile the cartels flood the country with dope 

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5 minutes ago, Tug said:

The cartels are having an absolute hay day no coast guard Homeland security Donald is letting the wolves in the hen house with his dumb ass wall atta boy Donald you worry about laborers and women with kids looking for work meanwhile the cartels flood the country with dope 

Well the flip side of the coin would abandon iCE altogether. They don't think criminals come through the border. Nice way to change the narrative when it works out for your story.

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3 minutes ago, Becker said:

 

Mike Pence glad you enjoy it.

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23 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Nobody condoned anything you made a pretty insipid  hypothetical statement and now you actually believe your own nonsense.

Yeap, I believe what I believe just as about 99% of the members on this forum do.

Events coming soon will prove us right. And the 1% will continue to support man-child when he blames the rest of the world for his failure (or they will go into hiding).

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