US govt. shutdown set to drag on to 2019 as Trump, Democrats stick to their stands

TIL Desk/World/Washington/ The partial United States government shutdown is all set to drag on to the new year as opposition Democrats and Republicans refused to show any sign of compromise on Thursday to end the impasse over US President Donald Trump’s demand for border wall funding.

Trump has refused to sign any stopgap spending bill that does not has provisions to fund a wall along the US-Mexico border which he says is essential to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. The Democrats, who will hold majority in the US House of Representatives in 2019 and carries the crucial numbers in the Senate despite being in minority, has argued that such a move is waste of taxpayers’ money.

Statements issued by both the camps on Thursday indicated that the impasse is all set to continue in the New Year. The partial government shutdown that started last Saturday has affected 800,000 federal employees, who have either been furloughed or are working without pay. US President Trump continued to blame Democrats for the shutdown. In a tweet, Trump said the government shutdown is not about the wall.