Congress punts shutdown into new year

Congress effectively gave up Thursday on breaking the impasse over President Trump’s demands for border-wall funding, all but ensuring that the partial government shutdown will stretch into at least the start of the new year, when Democrats retake control of the House.

The Democrats’ plan is to put a bill that funds the government, without money for Trump’s wall, on the floor Jan. 3, the first day of the new session of Congress.

The legislation would probably extend government funding through Feb. 8, according to a Democratic aide, mirroring the bipartisan bill the Senate passed last week before Trump withdrew his support, starting the chain of events that ended in the shutdown.

The Senate, which will remain under GOP control, would have to repass that legislation in January — and Trump would have to sign it — in order for the government to reopen. Neither outcome is assured, given Trump’s opposition to legislation that does not provide the border funding he wants, a stance the White House reiterated in a statement Thursday from press secretary Sarah Sanders. That leaves it uncertain how the standoff will get resolved in the new Congress.