US government shutdown likely to continue into 2019

A partial government shutdown caused by an impasse over Donald Trump’s proposed wall on the Mexican border is likely to continue into 2019 after both chambers of Congress adjourned on Thursday without acting to end the closure.

Both Congress chambers met for just a few minutes on Thursday but took no steps to end the closure. The House and Senate will now meet again on Monday.

There had been a narrow chance that the House would convene on Thursday afternoon and vote on a deal to end the shutdown. But no headway was made, and Trump remained insistent that the shutdown would continue until Congress supplies $5 billion for the border wall, which he says will help tackle illegal immigration.

Many lawmakers did not return to Washington for the sessions.

Both sides now seem to accept that the dispute will continue into 2019.

The funding dispute has left hundreds of thousands of federal employees either on unpaid leave or not knowing when they will get paid.

Trump says he will not compromise on his demands for funding to build a border wall between the US and Mexico to tackle illegal immigration.

He is refusing to sign a wider spending package, forcing large parts of the government to shut down.

But opposition Democrats - who take over the House of Representatives in January - and some within Trump's party, the Republicans, insist they won't give the president the $5bn he says he needs.

The situation has added to concerns over the outlook for the US economy in 2019, leading the stock market on a rollercoaster ride in recent days.

Trump’s Republican Party controls both chambers of the outgoing Congress and the budget was indeed passed by the House on Thursday by 217 votes to 185.

However, he needs to find 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate, where the Republicans currently have 51, so he needs to enlist the support of Democrats there.

Nine of 15 federal departments, including State, Homeland Security, Transportation, Agriculture, and Justice began partially shutting down after funding for them lapsed at midnight (05:00 GMT) last Saturday.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will have to work unpaid or are furloughed, a kind of temporary leave.

The remaining 75% of the federal government is fully funded until September 2019 - so the defence, veterans affairs, labour, and education departments are not affected.