US government partially shut down in fight over Trump's border wall

IMPASSE

For the shutdown to end, both the House and the Senate will have to approve any deal negotiated between Trump's team and Republican and Democratic leaders.

The shutdown could persist at least until a new Congress convenes on Jan 3, and Democrats take control of the House from Republicans. That does not necessarily mean, however, that Trump would agree to a compromise.

The shutdown comes at the end of a perilous week for the president, one that saw Defense Secretary James Mattis resign in protest after Trump's sudden decision to pull US troops out of Syria.

The Syria move was widely criticized, even by senior Republicans in Congress. And continued heavy losses in the stock market were in part fueled by the political turmoil.

While Trump made the promise of building a border wall a fixture of his 2016 election campaign, it is not a top-tier priority for most Americans.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in late November, only 31 percent of those surveyed said improved border security should be one of the top three priorities for Congress.

That suggests Trump is taking a political risk by gambling on a shutdown to press his point at a time when Democrats are gearing up for their 2020 presidential primary and looking for issues with which to seize an advantage.

Reuters

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