WASHINGTON — As workers continue without pay, as many government services remain closed and as the aviation community worries that its system has become less safe, President Trump has simply stopped negotiating to end the partial government shutdown, which enters its 34th day.

On Wednesday, he met with conservative leaders to discuss his immigration proposal – but not with Democrats, who control the House and who are essential to getting the 60 votes needed to pass legislation in the Senate.

Today, he has no public events on his schedule – just like he did on Tuesday.

And as the Senate today considers two bills to reopen the government – 1) the Trump/McConnell proposal that would include money for Trump’s border wall and give temporary protection to DACA recipients, and 2) the Democratic proposal to fund the government into February – the president hasn’t lifted a finger in recent days to get Democrats to support his measure. (Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., confirmed to NBC’s Frank Thorp earlier this week that the White House had yet to reach out to him.)

Bottom line: The man who authored “The Art of the Deal” hasn’t even really tried to strike a deal.

Sure, he offered his proposal on Saturday to give temporary protection to DACA recipients and other immigrants. But it came without consultation to Democrats, and with poison pills attached (like changing the asylum process for Central American minors).

And sure, Democrats haven’t been exactly racing to call Trump (though House Dems a preparing a counterproposal to meet or exceed $5.7 billion on border security but with no money for a physical wall). Then again, Trump is the one who’s demanding something (his wall) in this shutdown standoff.

“Both sides in Washington must simply come together, listen to each other, put down their armor, build trust, reach across the aisle, and find solutions,” Trump said on Saturday when he offered his proposal.

But where’s the coming together? The listening? The trust-building? And the reaching across the aisle?

Trump backs down on the State of the Union standoff

NBC News: “President Donald Trump late Wednesday announced he would not hold a State of the Union address until after the partial government shutdown, now in its fifth week, is over... Trump said on Twitter: ‘As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.’”

It is a very rare move for Trump to back down on anything, and it suggests we COULD be closer to solving the shutdown than we were a day ago. In fact, Trump backing down here – instead of marching ahead to give a State of the Union address somewhere else – is what you’d do if you were trying to get out of this mess.

Trump also acknowledging this, via the Washington Post, also is a sign we could be closer to resolving the shutdown:

“Sources in the room told us that Trump pointed out that shutting down the government costs more than building the wall, ‘so this is kind of stupid and every day this goes on the cost gets higher,’ [the Heritage Foundation’s Stephen] Moore added, paraphrasing Trump.”

Last week, we noted several polls that showed the government shutdown taking a toll on the president. And yesterday, we got more surveys showing his approval rating is down since the shutdown:
• An AP poll had Trump’s job approval at 34 percent among all Americans – down from 42 percent in December
• CBS had it at 36 percent among all Americans
• And a Fox News poll had it at 43 percent among registered voters – down from 46 percent in December

What’s more, that Fox poll has 51 percent believing Trump is mostly responsible for the shutdown, compared with 34 percent who believe Democrats are mostly responsible.

In interview, Pompeo doesn’t 100 percent knock down the speculation he might run for the Senate

Nothing in this exchange with Fox News’s Martha McCallum suggests that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is a firm/hard “no” on running for the Senate.

MCCALLUM: Quick question for you on Kansas politics. A lot of speculation out there that you might consider running for Pat Roberts’ seat. There were reports that you spent some time over the weekend with Republican strategist Ward Baker to discuss that possibility, and that Mitch McConnell is urging you to run.

POMPEO: Lots of folks have reached out to me and suggested I ought to do that. I have suggested to them that I have a very full plate as Secretary of State, and I intend to keep doing this so long as President Trump will commit to it.

MCCALLUM: So no intention to get involved in the Senate race in Kansas?

POMPEO: Martha, every day I’m trying to make sure that I’m doing what President Trump wants me to do to keep America safe. That’s my singular focus.

MCCALLUM: Is Mitch McConnell trying to change your mind about that? I know that Kris Kobach, who lost the governor’s race there, is considered a possibility to run for that seat.

POMPEO: I spoke to Senator McConnell once. He asked me if I’d think about it, and I told him I appreciated the phone call.

Folks, saying “I intend to keep doing this so long as President Trump will commit to it” is not a “no.”

“Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, is delaying his public testimony before Congress ‘due to ongoing threats against his family from President Trump’ and members of his legal team, Cohen attorney Lanny Davis said in a statement Wednesday,” per NBC’s Rebecca Shabad.

“Cohen, 52, was set to appear voluntarily before the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., on Feb. 7. Cohen is scheduled to report to prison on March 6.”

Trump tweeted this morning: “So interesting that bad lawyer Michael Cohen, who sadly will not be testifying before Congress, is using the lawyer of Crooked Hillary Clinton to represent him - Gee, how did that happen? Remember July 4th weekend when Crooked went before FBI & wasn’t sworn in, no tape, nothing?”</s>WASHINGTON – House Democrats, feeling pressure to display their vision for border security, are preparing a package that would ignore President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion for a wall with Mexico and would instead pay for other ideas aimed at protecting the border.

As the government slogged through a record 33rd day of its partial shutdown Wednesday, details of Democrats’ border security plan and its cost remained a work in progress, though some said it might match Trump’s $5.7 billion figure. Party leaders said it would include money for scanning devices and other technological tools for improving security at ports of entry and along the boundary, plus funds for more border agents and immigration judges.

“If his $5.7 billion is about border security, then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing it with what I like to call using a smart wall,” said No. 3 House Democratic leader Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.

Democrats’ movement toward producing a plan, which they said they expected to unveil this week, was significant because it underscored a growing uneasiness with letting Trump cast them as soft on border security. It came as the Senate prepared for Thursday votes on rival plans for reopening federal agencies and paying 800,000 federal workers who are days from missing yet another paycheck.

Republicans would couple ending the shutdown with financing Trump’s wall and revamping immigration laws. Democrats would reopen agency doors through Feb. 8 while bargainers seek an accord.

Both faced likely defeat, but that might spur the two sides into a more serious effort to strike a compromise when each saw it lacked the votes to prevail. Both proposals would need 60 votes to pass in a chamber with 53-47 Republican control.

Trump told White House reporters that Democrats had become “radicalized” and “a very, very dangerous party,” and took personal aim at Congress’ top two Democrats. He said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is “very strongly dominated” by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling him her “puppet.”

Schumer, D-N.Y., called on Senate Republicans to abandon Trump despite his sway with conservative voters, saying, “I know that President Trump has some power in these Republican primaries, but sometimes you have to rise to the occasion.”

A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released Wednesday was the latest indicator that the shutdown is hurting Trump with the general public. While his approval among Republicans remains strong, just 34 percent of Americans like his performance as president and 6 in 10 assign a great deal of responsibility to him for the shutdown, around double the share blaming Democrats.

The Senate GOP bill would temporarily shield from deportation 700,000 “Dreamers,” migrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children, protections Trump has tried terminating. He’s also offered temporary protections for people who fled violence or natural disasters in several countries – another program Trump has curtailed.

Democrats have objected to other provisions making it harder for Central American minors to gain asylum in the U.S.

The testy relationship between Trump and Pelosi, D-Calif., decayed further when she informed him he couldn’t use the House chamber for his planned State of the Union address next Tuesday. She invited him to speak “when government has been opened.”

Trump said he’d plan an event elsewhere and called Pelosi’s move “a great blotch on the country” that showed she didn’t want “the truth” about border security. But late Wednesday night he tweeted that he would postpone the address until after the shutdown had ended, saying no other venue could match the House chamber.

The clash over the speech suggested that a collaborative atmosphere that could facilitate a shutdown deal wasn’t at hand.

Democratic leaders have insisted they won’t negotiate with Trump on border security unless he reopens the government. Trump has said he’ll end the shutdown only if Congress provides money for the wall, though White House officials have indicated he’s open to counteroffers.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., has urged the White House to provide green cards to 700,000 Dreamers as a way to break the impasse. Lankford has mentioned this to White House adviser Jared Kushner, said a person familiar with the conversations who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

With Democrats eager to show they’re trying to end the impasse, the House used mostly party-line votes Wednesday to approve one measure reopening government agencies through February. By a similar tally, the chamber voted to finance most shuttered agencies through September.

Growing numbers of House Democrats say the party should show where it stands on border security.

“Right now it’s a vacuum and the president is offering fake plans to stop drug smuggling,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. Offering a Democratic alternative “helps the possibility of beginning a real negotiation,” he said.

Their proposal is expected to exceed the $1.6 billion Trump initially sought for the wall before upping his request.</s>WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Thursday (Jan 24) blocked dueling plans to reopen shuttered federal agencies - a fresh setback in efforts to end a crippling month-long government shutdown that have stalled over President Donald Trump's controversial wall on the Mexico border.

The first measure backed by Trump - which would have reopened the government, funded the wall and included some immigration policy changes - earned 50 votes to 47 against, but it needed 60 to advance.

A competing proposal by Senate Democrats that would open government through Feb 8 without funding Trump's wall, and leave room for border security negotiations, also failed to move forward, with 52 "Yes" votes to 44 against.

The legislative deadlock leaves Congress and the president red-faced and adrift as hundreds of thousands of federal workers, some reliant on food banks to make ends meet, are about to miss a second paycheck.

Trump was already smarting, after being forced into shelving his annual State of the Union address by top Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, until the government is fully operational.

Though politically bruised, Trump stood firm on his demand for billions of dollars in funding for a border wall as part of an overall budget package.

"Very simply, without a Wall it all doesn't work," he tweeted at Pelosi on Thursday before the Senate votes.

"We will not Cave!"

The shutdown is now in its 34th day, with federal workers left unpaid across the country and in US installations abroad - and the knock-on effects affecting millions more.

As acrimony in Washington grew, lawmakers across the political spectrum were left searching in vain for an exit strategy for the longest-ever halt to federal operations, as furloughed government employees and contractors vented their fury on Capitol Hill.

"There's no excuse for Senate Republicans not to pass this legislation," Pelosi told reporters, referring to the Democratic plan. "Who can say no to that?"

But many did say no, it turns out.



Opening government and negotiating later on border security, as Democrats have long argued, "is not going to cut it," Republican Senator Richard Shelby said before the votes.

He then sounded an ominous note: "Is this the beginning of the end, or is it just the end of the beginning? We shall find out."

The air travel industry issued dire warnings, including one from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

"In our risk-averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break," NATCA president Paul Rinaldi said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the chamber that "it's time to make a deal."

Most Democrats oppose direct funds for wall construction, but some have begun publicly advocating for negotiating a solution that includes boosted border funding, including for border structures.

And Pelosi herself said on Thursday that "we will have some of our proposals for what comes next" in upcoming legislation offerings.

"Look, I think physical barriers are part of the solution," Steny Hoyer, the number two House Democrat, told Fox News.

"We want to make sure that people who come into the United States are authorised to do so," he added. "We're for border security and I think we can get there."

The shutdown, which has seen some 800,000 federal employees left without pay for a month, was triggered by Trump's refusal to sign funding bills in December, in retaliation for Democratic opposition to funds for extending walls along the US-Mexico border.

The House, now controlled by Democrats, has passed multiple bills that would open government, but the Republican-run Senate is aligned with Trump's border wall push.</s>Two competing measures to end the partial US government shutdown have fallen short in the Senate as lawmakers explore an option to end a month-long impasse with the White House and fund government operations for three weeks while talks continue.

A bill backed by Republican President Donald Trump to end the shutdown by funding the wall he wants to build on the US-Mexico border and a separate bill supported by Democrats to reopen shuttered agencies without such funding did not get the votes required to advance in the 100-member chamber.

Immediately following the failed effort, Democratic and Republican senators spoke on the Senate floor and urged quick passage of a three-week, stopgap funding bill to end the partial government shutdown for now.

Some Democrats pledged to support more border security funding than was included in the Democrats' bill that was blocked in the Senate on Thursday.

But the White House issued a warning. A three-week funding bill would "only work if there is a large down payment on the wall," spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said a measure to temporarily reopen shuttered federal agencies would be unveiled later on Thursday to end the 34-day shutdown, which was triggered by Trump's demand for money to fund a wall.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he had spoken to Trump about a three-week funding bill.

"All of us believe if we have three weeks with the government open that we could find a way forward to produce a bill that he would sign, that would be good for everybody in the country," Graham said. "To my Democratic friends, money for a barrier is required to get this deal done."

Trump has touted Republican unity during the longest shutdown in US history.

But in a sign of cracks in that resolve, or a desire for compromise, six Republican senators voted with Democrats on their measure to temporarily reopen government agencies without money for Trump's wall. They included freshman Senator Mitt Romney, his party's 2012 presidential nominee.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, told reporters earlier she was willing to meet with Trump to discuss the shutdown.

Trump has said he wants $US5.7 billion ($A8 billion) for a border barrier, opposed by Democrats, as part of any legislation to fund about a quarter of the federal government for the year.

"Our Country has a chance to greatly reduce Crime, Human Trafficking, Gangs and Drugs. Should have been done for decades. We will not Cave!" Trump said in a tweet, promoting the benefits of a wall.

His demand, and Democrats' refusal to meet it, has sparked a shutdown of agencies that had not already received federal funding, leaving 800,000 federal workers, as well as private contractors, without pay and struggling to make ends meet, the effects on government services and the economy reverberating nationwide.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week found more than half of Americans blamed Trump for the shutdown.</s>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday night he is postponing his State of the Union address until the partial government shutdown ends, yielding after a weeklong showdown with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Following a high-stakes game of dare and double-dare, Trump conceded that “no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber” and that he was not looking for an alternate option after Pelosi served notice earlier Wednesday that he won’t be allowed to deliver the address to a joint session of Congress next week.

Pelosi had taken the step after Trump said he planned to show up in spite of Democratic objections to the speech taking place with large swaths of the government shut down.

Denied that grand venue, Trump promised to come up with some sort of alternative event. The White House scrambled to find a site matching the gravitas of the traditional address from the rostrum of the House to lawmakers from both parties, Supreme Court justices, invited guests and a television audience of millions.

“As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed,” Trump tweeted. “She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative – I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.”

Fireworks over the speech shot back and forth between the Capitol and the White House as the monthlong partial government shutdown showed no signs of ending and about 800,000 federal workers faced the prospect of going without their second paycheck in a row come Friday.

Pelosi told Trump the House wouldn’t approve a resolution allowing him to address Congress until the shutdown ended. Trump shot back that Pelosi was afraid of hearing the truth.

“I think that’s a great blotch on the incredible country that we all love,” Trump said earlier Wednesday. “It’s a great, great horrible mark.”

The drama surrounding the State of the Union address began last week when Pelosi asked Trump to make other plans but stopped short of denying him the chamber for his address. Trump called her bluff Wednesday in a letter, saying he intended to come anyway.

“It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location,” he wrote.

Pelosi quickly squelched the speech, writing back that the House “will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President’s State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened.”

The president cannot speak in front of a joint session of Congress without both chambers’ explicit permission. A resolution needs to be approved by both chambers specifying the date and time for receiving an address from the president.

The gamesmanship unfolded as the Senate prepared to vote this week on dueling proposals on the shutdown. A Republican one would give Trump money for the wall while one from Democrats would re-open government through Feb. 8, with no wall money, giving bargainers time to talk about it.

Both proposals were likely to fail to reach the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. As well, House Democrats were putting forward a new proposal, aiming to lure Trump away from his demand for a border wall by offering billions of new dollars for other border security measures.

The Constitution states only that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union,” meaning the president can speak anywhere he chooses or give his update in writing. The address has been delayed before.

Ronald Reagan’s 1986 State of the Union address was postponed after the Challenger space shuttle exploded in flight on Jan. 28 of that year.

But there is no precedent for a State of the Union invitation being rescinded.

Presidents Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter issued their final messages in print. As Eisenhower recovered from a heart attack in 1956, he prepared a seven-minute, filmed summary of the message from his retreat in Key West, Florida, that was broadcast nationwide. Richard Nixon sent a printed message in 1973; his staff said an oral message would have come too soon after his second inaugural address.

White House officials have been working on a backup plan to have Trump give the speech somewhere else if Democrats blocked access to the House chamber. Nevertheless, they were rattled by Pelosi’s move Wednesday and expressed concern it would further sour shutdown negotiations.

Officials have been considering a speech in the Senate chamber and a visit to a state on the southern border. Multiple versions of the speech were being drafted to suit the final venue. Trump has been presented with a series of options for making the address and is expected to decide within the next day or so, said a person familiar with White House discussions but not authorized to speak publicly about them.

Pelosi said that when she extended her Jan. 3 invitation to Trump to deliver the State of the Union address on Jan. 29, there was no thought that the government would still be shut down.

She wrote Wednesday: “I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened.”

Moments after her letter became public, Trump told reporters he wasn’t surprised by Pelosi’s action. Democrats have become “radicalized,” he claimed. He expanded on those sentiments during a subsequent event at the White House, calling the cancellation a “disgrace” and asserting that Pelosi didn’t want to hear the truth about the need for better border security.

The White House and Democratic lawmakers have been accusing one another of pettiness since Pelosi raised doubts about the speech. Trump followed up by revoking her use of a military plane for a congressional delegation visit to Afghanistan.

North Carolina’s House speaker, Tim Moore, invited Trump to deliver the speech in the North Carolina House chamber. Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield has offered his state capitol. Trump spoke with both of them this week, according to Moore’s office and a tweet from Chatfield.

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Andrew Taylor, Laurie Kellman, Jill Colvin and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.</s>The Senate blocked two proposals on Thursday to reopen the government, but amid the ongoing stalemate, there’s some hope that Washington might be inching closer toward ending a shutdown now on its 34th day.

In a 52-44 vote, the Senate rejected House-backed legislation that would fund the government through February 8. The Senate, in a 50-47 vote, blocked legislation endorsed by President Donald Trump that provided $5.7 billion for his border wall and granted temporary protection for some undocumented immigrants.

The bills were expected to fail.

Six Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Mitt Romney of Utah and Johnny Isakson of Georgia joined Democrats to vote in favor of the continuing resolution.

“I’ve said all along we should fund border security, keep the government open,” Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) said prior to the vote. “We can walk and chew gum at the same time.” He added that Coloradans “don’t understand why Congress can’t get its job done.”

When asked about the Republican defections on the continuing resolution bill, Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said that members are “frustrated and want to do everything they can do move the process forward.”

The dueling votes marked the first time the Senate has formally moved on government funding since the shutdown began. And senators this week signaled a note of optimism, saying that even though Thursday’s bills were going to fail, they at least represented movement and possibly the start of negotiations to end the shutdown.

“I think it certainly puts everybody on record, and if nothing else I would hope at least that this would get the conversation going again,” Thune said.

About 20 dozen House Democrats marched over to the Senate during the vote in an unsuccessful effort to pressure Republicans to back to the clean spending bill.

House Democrats are also preparing a counteroffer of sorts to Trump that reportedly would provide at least $5 billion in border security, but no new funding for the wall. Democrats on Thursday, however, were tightlipped leaving a planning meeting in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and refused to detail what level of border funding will be in the proposal or how far-reaching it is.

The proposal, set to be made public Friday, suggests pressure is mounting to find a solution to the impasse. Earlier this week, a group of centrist House Democrats drafted a letter to Pelosi asking that she give Trump a vote on his border wall or a border security package in exchange for re-opening the government. The Democrat-controlled House has also repeatedly passed legislation to re-open the government — most recently a spending bill Thursday to re-open the Department of Homeland Security.

Some House Democrats have privately dismissed the DHS proposal as a messaging document meant to ease their rank-and-file’s frustrations with the prolonged stalemate. But House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Thursday he’s confident the Democratic counteroffer will be a starting point for serious talks with the president once the government is reopened.

“I maintain hope that people will come to their senses real soon. And I’m very confident that the proposals we’re putting forward will gain traction and will become a significant part of whatever the negotiations are going forward,” Clyburn said. “We won’t get 100 percent of what we want and we want the president to understand he won’t get 100 percent of what he wants.”

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said Thursday that part of the reason is Democrats haven’t decided how to present the offer – whether just to roll out a DHS bill or send Trump an accompanying letter outlining what exactly they will support on the border.

“The letter is still a work in progress. As to what format it will be, we’re not sure. It could be that or it could be another format,” Thompson told reporters.

Another issue up for debate: Whether to include any money for new fencing in some spots along the border.

“The question is still being debated as to whether any new fencing would be included,” Thompson said, although another Democratic source with knowledge of the bill disputed that.

Still, both parties remain publicly dug-in. Democrats have been adamant that Trump must re-open the government before they negotiate on a border security deal, while Trump says he will not re-open the government without funding for his border wall.

“They know full well that we’re here,” Pelosi told reporters on Thursday. “It’s the president of the United States. We’d meet with him anytime he wants to meet.”

Even before Thursday votes, the shutdown appeared to be taking a toll, with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) yelling at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) over the shutdown.

“These crocodile tears that the senator from Texas is crying for first responders are too hard for me to take,” Bennet said. “How ludicrous it is that this government is shut down over a promise the president of the United States couldn’t keep. And that America isn’t interested in having him keep.”

Cruz responded that he never “bellowed or yelled” at one of his colleagues on the Senate floor.

The Senate’s vote against stop-gap legislation to fund the government temporarily comes more than one month after it voted by voice vote for similar legislation to keep the government open through Feb. 8.

Thursday’s funding bill had some differences from the legislation passed in December, however. The House-passed bill included funding for disaster relief, some limits on physical barrier construction and changes to Medicaid.

On Wednesday, Pelosi and Trump sparred over whether the president would deliver his State of the Union address from the House of Representatives before the government was re-opened. Trump responded initially that he would find an alternative venue, but then said he would wait until the shutdown ended to deliver the speech. Clyburn said he was a "bit more hopeful" about ending the shutdown after Trump conceded to Pelosi on the speech.

Meanwhile, even as he demands Congress give him money for his border wall, Trump has also declined to rule out declaring a national emergency to build his border wall — an explosive and legally dubious move but one that could offer an alternative route to ending the shutdown.

Burgess Everett, James Arkin and Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.</s>tupungato/iStock(WASHINGTON) — The back and forth between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump over when and where the State of the Union will be delivered — if at all — came to a conclusion, if temporary, late Wednesday night.

Trump will not give a speech until after the partial government shutdown is over.

The president tweeted the news in a two-part missive just before midnight, saying, “As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative – I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.”

He ended speculation he might look to give the speech in a location other than the House of Representatives as well, saying he’s not looking for another venue.

In response, Pelosi took the opportunity to encourage the president to support a bill to fund the government while discussions over border security continue.

“Mr. President, I hope by saying ‘near future’ you mean you will support the House-passed package to #EndTheShutdown that the Senate will vote on tomorrow,” she said. “Please accept this proposal so we can re-open government, repay our federal workers and then negotiate our differences.”

The bill is most likely dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled Senate.

It’s the latest twist in their political and seemingly personal feud. Earlier Wednesday, Pelosi sent a letter to Trump saying there would be no State of the Union address in the House chamber until after the partial government shutdown ends, effectively rescinding her invitation to the president.

“When I extended an invitation on January 3rd for you to deliver the State of the Union address, it was on the mutually agreed upon date, January 29th. At that time, there was no thought that the government would still be shut down,” her letter said. “I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President’s State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said.

The resolution is necessary to authorize the president to address a joint session of Congress.

“Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened,” Pelosi’s letter continued.

At the White House, Trump told reporters he was “not surprised” by Pelosi’s letter.

“I’m not surprised. It’s really a shame what’s happening with the Democrats, they’ve become radicalized,” Trump said when asked for reaction to Pelosi’s letter during a photo-op in the Roosevelt Room.

Later, at another photo-op, Trump said, “The State of the Union has been canceled by Nancy Pelosi because she doesn’t want to hear the truth, she doesn’t want the American people to hear what’s going on.”

“Now Nancy Pelosi, or Nancy as I call her, she doesn’t want to hear the truth and she doesn’t want to hear the American people to hear the truth,” Trump said.

“I think that’s a great blotch on the great country we all love, it’s a great, great horrible mark. I don’t believe it’s ever happened before,” Trump said. “It’s always good to be part of history but this is a negative part of history. This is where people are afraid to open up and say what’s going on.”

“If we can handle Iraq, we can handle the middle of Washington and the very spectacular building and a beautiful room that we should be in and that’s where it’s been for a long time,” Trump said.

Upon returning to the Capitol after an afternoon speech, Pelosi made clear that Trump is not welcome to address a joint session of Congress until the shutdown is over.

“I still make the offer: let’s work together on a mutually agreeable date, as the original date was, mutually agreeable, so we can welcome him properly to the Capitol,” she said.

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise told reporters that Pelosi’s decision to rescind the invitation is “a big mistake” and “a disgraceful move.”

“The fact that Nancy Pelosi’s not only holding the paychecks of federal workers hostage, now she’s going to try to hold the State of the Union hostage, shows that she is beholden right now to the most radical left elements of her base,” Scalise, R-La., said. “She’s not trying to solve this problem.”

Just a couple of hours earlier, Trump on Wednesday rejected Pelosi’s earlier suggestion he delay his State of the Union speech until after the partial government shutdown ends, writing Pelosi to formally affirm he was sticking to plans to deliver the address on Jan. 29 in the House chamber.

“I will be honoring your invitation, and fulfilling my Constitutional duty, to deliver important information to the people and Congress of the United States of America regarding the State of our Union,” Trump wrote in a letter to Pelosi on Wednesday afternoon.

Trump closed the letter by hinting that the onus would be on Pelosi to cancel the invitation. “I look forward to seeing you on the evening on January 29th in the Chamber of the House of Representative. It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!”

Recognizing that Pelosi’s invitation was never officially taken off the table, Trump had seemingly called her bluff, resisting pressure to pull out and deliver the address from another venue elsewhere in Washington, such as at the White House or Senate chamber, or even, as one Republican member of Congress suggested, at the southern border.

Pelosi wrote Trump on Jan. 16, appealing to the president to work with her to find “another suitable date” after the partial government shutdown ends, or provide his address in writing – justifying her suggestion with a warning that “critical” operations at the Department of Homeland Security are “hamstrung by furloughs.”

In his letter, Trump said DHS and the U.S. Secret Service told him “there would be absolutely no problem regarding security with respect to the event.”

Despite the uncertainty prior to the letter, preparations were already moving forward to welcome Trump next Tuesday, as Pelosi has not explicitly disinvited him from an invitation to deliver the annual address from the House chamber.

“She didn’t disinvite him. She suggested another date which would be consistent with a government that was open and was paying the people that we expect to protect us,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 ranked Democrat, told reporters during a pen and pad briefing Wednesday. “It is a very high-security event.”

As a matter of congressional protocol, both the House and Senate must pass a concurrent resolution authorizing the president to deliver an address from the House chamber, though neither chamber has acted yet and no votes on such measures are planned this week.

Hoyer, who is empowered with control over which measures are considered on the House floor, said a resolution could be considered as late as next Tuesday – the same day Pelosi has invited Trump to deliver the address – without impacting security or logistical planning.

“I’m told that that could be passed Tuesday the 29th and be equally effective as if we passed it today,” Hoyer said. “I think the Capitol Police and Sergeant at Arms have assured us we’ll be fully prepared if in fact there’s a State of the Union address on the 29th.”

Rep. Mike McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs committee, signaled he hopes the president’s efforts will generate a solution to the impasse.

“This is a time we need the president to come to the Hill and talk to the Congress,” McCaul, R-Texas, said. “And so I would hope that Speaker Pelosi would just do the right thing – rise above the partisanship and let the president come talk to the Congress.”

While the shutdown continued in its 33rd day, Hoyer says House Democrats are crafting a letter outlining “substantial” spending on border security to “articulate what we believe is effective.” He urged the president to end the shutdown, enabling lawmakers to negotiate a border security package and even comprehensive immigration reform without the president using 800,000 federal employees as leverage.

“I think her suggestion was a reasonable one,” Hoyer said of Pelosi’s suggestion to delay the speech until after government reopens. “The response we got was that the Secret Service will do its job and other security officers will do their job. There’s no doubt that they will. They’re very dedicated, patriotic people, very contentious people. Paying them or not, they’re going to be doing their job. We understand that but the fact is the president needs to open up the government.”</s>National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow appeared to minimize federal workers' pain caused by the shutdown, calling the shutdown a mere 'glitch.'

Two top Donald Trump administration officials on Thursday made public remarks that appeared to show what Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, quoted by Newsweek, called “callous indifference” to the pain of federal employees who have now gone more than a month without paychecks as the government shutdown over Trump’s demand that congress allocate funding for his “border wall” approaches its 35th day.

One of those officials was Trump’s top economic adviser, 71-year-old Larry Kudlow (pictured above), a former Fox News commentator and Ronald Reagan administration official who was named by Trump to head the National Economic council in April, as Inquisitr reported.

In an appearance on Fox, Kudlow referred to the effects of the shutdown as a “glitch,” as Talking Points Memo reported. The shutdown has left 800,000 government employees without pay, many of them forced to show up for work anyway because they are in “essential” positions, such as aviation safety and other security-related fields.

“It’ll snap back from its glitch, it will snap back from its anomaly,” he said on Fox, describing what he said would be the shutdown’s minimal effect on the United States economy. “An awful lot of smart people out there trying to make these estimates. It is like counting angels on the head of a pin. Can I be honest? We don’t know.”

In earlier remarks to a group of press representatives, Kudlow decsribed federal workers required to work without pay as “volunteering,” according to Breakfast Media White House reporter Andrew Feinberg, who reported Kudlow’s remarks on Twitter.

Asked later by Feinberg to clarify how workers going with no pay were “volunteering,” Kudlow called the unpaid workers “wonderful people” willing to deliberately self-sacrifice, according to his remarks on C-Span.

“They honor us,” Kudlow said of the unpaid workers. “They do it because of their love for the country, and the office of the presidency, and presumably their allegiance to President Trump. But whatever. They’re doing it. Give them some credit.”

But according to a poll released last week by the Government Business Council and GovExec.com, 72 percent of federal workers said that they oppose the government shutdown, with a whopping 64 percent saying that they “strongly oppose” it.

Kudlow’s remarks came after Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross made remarks earlier on Thursday in which he said that “I don’t really quite understand why” federal workers have been reportedly seeking assistance at food banks and homeless shelters, according to CNBC, adding “there’s no real reason why they shouldn’t be able to get a loan.”</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two measures to end the partial U.S. government shutdown - one backed by Republicans and one by Democrats - fell short in the Senate on Thursday as lawmakers explored other potential compromises to end a monthlong impasse with the White House.

A bill backed by Republican President Donald Trump to end the shutdown by funding the wall he wants to build on the U.S.-Mexico border and a separate bill supported by Democrats to re-open shuttered agencies without such funding did not get the votes required to advance in the 100-member chamber.

Several Republican senators voted with Democrats on their measure to temporarily re-open government agencies without money for Trump’s wall. They included freshman Senator Mitt Romney, his party’s 2012 presidential nominee.

But in the hours before the votes, signs emerged that lawmakers may consider new ideas for ending the 34-day shutdown, which was triggered by Trump’s demand for money to fund his long-promised wall.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is in regular contact with Trump, told reporters there were bipartisan efforts in the Senate to win the president’s backing for a three- to four-week government funding bill that would open shuttered agencies while border security negotiations take place. He urged Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, to back the efforts there.

Pelosi told reporters she was willing to meet with Trump to discuss the shutdown.

Her comments came one day after she essentially withdrew an invitation for Trump to give his State of the Union in the House chamber next Tuesday, saying that would not happen until the shutdown ended. Trump, who had planned to come despite the shutdown and considered giving the speech at another venue, conceded late on Wednesday and said he would deliver the speech in the House in the “near future.”

Trump wants $5.7 billion for a border barrier, opposed by Democrats, as part of any legislation to fund about a quarter of the federal government. That demand, and Democrats’ refusal to meet it, has led to the longest shutdown in U.S. history, leaving 800,000 federal workers, as well as private contractors, without pay and struggling to make ends meet, the effects on government services and the economy reverberating nationwide.</s>By KEVIN FREKING, MATTHEW DALY and CATHERINE LUCEY

 Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Wednesday night he is postponing his State of the Union address until the partial government shutdown ends, yielding after a weeklong showdown with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Following a high-stakes game of dare and double-dare, Trump conceded that "no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber" and that he was not looking for an alternate option after Pelosi served notice earlier Wednesday that he won't be allowed to deliver the address to a joint session of Congress next week.

Pelosi had taken the step after Trump said he planned to show up in spite of Democratic objections to the speech taking place with large swaths of the government shut down.

Denied that grand venue, Trump promised to come up with some sort of alternative event. The White House scrambled to find a site matching the gravitas of the traditional address from the rostrum of the House to lawmakers from both parties, Supreme Court justices, invited guests and a television audience of millions.

"As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed," Trump tweeted. "She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over."

Fireworks over the speech shot back and forth between the Capitol and the White House as the monthlong partial government shutdown showed no signs of ending and about 800,000 federal workers faced the prospect of going without their second paycheck in a row come Friday.

Pelosi told Trump the House wouldn't approve a resolution allowing him to address Congress until the shutdown ended. Trump shot back that Pelosi was afraid of hearing the truth.

"I think that's a great blotch on the incredible country that we all love," Trump said earlier Wednesday. "It's a great, great horrible mark."

The drama surrounding the State of the Union address began last week when Pelosi asked Trump to make other plans but stopped short of denying him the chamber for his address. Trump called her bluff Wednesday in a letter, saying he intended to come anyway.

"It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location," he wrote.

Pelosi quickly squelched the speech, writing back that the House "will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President's State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened."

The president cannot speak in front of a joint session of Congress without both chambers' explicit permission. A resolution needs to be approved by both chambers specifying the date and time for receiving an address from the president.

The gamesmanship unfolded as the Senate prepared to vote this week on dueling proposals on the shutdown. A Republican one would give Trump money for the wall while one from Democrats would re-open government through Feb. 8, with no wall money, giving bargainers time to talk about it.

Both proposals were likely to fail to reach the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. As well, House Democrats were putting forward a new proposal, aiming to lure Trump away from his demand for a border wall by offering billions of new dollars for other border security measures.

The Constitution states only that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union," meaning the president can speak anywhere he chooses or give his update in writing. The address has been delayed before.

Ronald Reagan's 1986 State of the Union address was postponed after the Challenger space shuttle exploded in flight on Jan. 28 of that year.

But there is no precedent for a State of the Union invitation being rescinded.

Presidents Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter issued their final messages in print. As Eisenhower recovered from a heart attack in 1956, he prepared a seven-minute, filmed summary of the message from his retreat in Key West, Florida, that was broadcast nationwide. Richard Nixon sent a printed message in 1973; his staff said an oral message would have come too soon after his second inaugural address.

White House officials have been working on a backup plan to have Trump give the speech somewhere else if Democrats blocked access to the House chamber. Nevertheless, they were rattled by Pelosi's move Wednesday and expressed concern it would further sour shutdown negotiations.

Officials have been considering a speech in the Senate chamber and a visit to a state on the southern border. Multiple versions of the speech were being drafted to suit the final venue. Trump has been presented with a series of options for making the address and is expected to decide within the next day or so, said a person familiar with White House discussions but not authorized to speak publicly about them.

Pelosi said that when she extended her Jan. 3 invitation to Trump to deliver the State of the Union address on Jan. 29, there was no thought that the government would still be shut down.

She wrote Wednesday: "I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened."

Moments after her letter became public, Trump told reporters he wasn't surprised by Pelosi's action. Democrats have become "radicalized," he claimed. He expanded on those sentiments during a subsequent event at the White House, calling the cancellation a "disgrace" and asserting that Pelosi didn't want to hear the truth about the need for better border security.

The White House and Democratic lawmakers have been accusing one another of pettiness since Pelosi raised doubts about the speech. Trump followed up by revoking her use of a military plane for a congressional delegation visit to Afghanistan.

North Carolina's House speaker, Tim Moore, invited Trump to deliver the speech in the North Carolina House chamber. Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield has offered his state capitol. Trump spoke with both of them this week, according to Moore's office and a tweet from Chatfield.

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 Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Andrew Taylor, Laurie Kellman, Jill Colvin and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will not authorize President Donald Trump's 2019 State of the Union Address in the House chamber until the government shutdown has ended.