Government shutdown: A look back at the major events, decisions and bills that got us here
WASHINGTON – It's been nearly a month since parts of the government were shuttered due to contentious bickering over a southern border wall.
Over the last 28 days, there have been high-stakes meetings, bills and Oval Office addresses seeking to end what's become the longest shutdown on record.
As President Trump readies a "major announcement" on the shutdown Saturday, here's a look back at the major events and efforts to reopen federal agencies that have so far failed.
Dec. 11: The White House meeting
It was a fight for the ages and the public was invited to watch.
President Donald Trump told Democratic leaders in a remarkable on-camera clash he would be "proud" to shut down the federal government if he doesn’t get the $5.7 billion he demands for a border wall with Mexico.
“If we don’t get what we want ... we will shut down the government," Trump said during an exchange in the Oval Office with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Pelosi and Schumer gave as good as they got, telling Trump he lacks support for border wall funding – even while Republicans still control the House – and is irresponsible in threatening to halt the government over a project that would be ineffective at best.
"You don't have the votes," Pelosi said.
Dec. 19: Senate passes bill to keep government open
A short-term spending bill that would fund the government through early next year cleared the Senate, a solution aimed at averting a government shutdown.
Senators voted by voice vote to approve the spending measure, which would temporarily end a budget impasse by funding nine federal departments and several smaller agencies at their current funding levels through Feb. 8.
The bill was sent to the House for approval.
More: Senate passes bill to avoid government shutdown; House vote comes next
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., offered the temporary spending bill after President Donald Trump’s demand for $5 billion in funding for a wall along the nation’s southern border resulted in a standoff that threatened to shut down parts of the government.
It wasn't clear whether Trump would sign the measure but the White House appeared to retreat from Trump's position of being "proud" to shutdown the government and take any blame for the impasse.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said one day earlier that Trump asked his Cabinet secretaries to look for other sources of funding to help protect the border and suggested that the administration is looking to Congress for ways to avoid a shutdown.
Dec. 20: Trump won't sign bill; House adds border funds
A deeply divided House voted to add $5 billion in border wall funding to a short-term spending bill, yielding to Trump’s demand for the money but casting further doubts that the government would shutdown.
The bill, which the House approved by a vote of 217-185, was sent back to the Senate for another vote.
The House vote capped a drama-filled day that started with lawmakers anticipating quick passage of an already approved Senate funding bill. The day broke into chaos after the president said he would not approve of the Senate's bill since it did not include border funds. The announcement led to House members adding $5.7 billion for a border wall but also meant the Senate would have to vote again on the spending bill.
“I’ve made my position very clear: Any measure that funds the government must include border security,” Trump said at the White House.
Dec. 22: The government shutdown begins
A flurry of negotiations in the Senate couldn't muster up enough votes to pass the House's spending bill, leading to the partial government starting at midnight.
Congressional leaders and the White House worked behind the scenes late Friday in hopes of striking a deal but Trump acknowledged that he was ready for "a long shutdown."
More: Federal government shutdown to begin at midnight after House, Senate fail to resolve budget impasse
At midafternoon, Vice President Mike Pence and two of Trump’s top lieutenants – Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and adviser Jared Kushner – traveled to the Capitol for a series of meetings to try to broker a deal.
An agreement proved elusive, but in what was hailed as a bit of a breakthrough, congressional leaders and the White House agreed to continue their talks after a procedural vote in the Senate. Yet even that incremental step required a tie-breaking vote by Pence.
Jan. 2: Dems meet with Trump at White House - again
Pelosi and Schumer left a meeting at the White House, telling reporters that both sides were no closer to resolving the dispute over border funds.
Schumer said that Trump was using the shutdown as "hostage" to get what he wants. Democrats tried to persuade Trump to reopen the government and continuing to negotiate over funds for border security.
"The only reason that they are shutting down the government is very simple," Schumer said after the meeting. "They want to try and leverage that shutdown into their proposals on border security."
Republicans agreed that no headway was made in negotiations to end the shutdown.
Jan. 3: New Congress, new bills
New members of Congress were officially sworn in, giving Democrats control of the House.
Later that evening, the House passed two measures that would reopen the government and postpone bickering over border wall funds to February, giving lawmakers and the White House another month to negotiate.
The measures were viewed as symbolic efforts as no additional border funds were included. Trump had repeatedly said he would not sign any bill that did not include the $5.7 billion he was requesting to construct the wall.
Jan. 4: Trump's threats
Another meeting with top Democrats at the White House led to Trump teasing two new threats: to keep the shutdown going for possibly years and possibly declaring a national emergency to get the funding he desires for a border wall.
After the meeting, Schumer told reporters that the president threatened to keep the government closed for "months or even years" if he doesn't get the $5.7 billion for a wall.
"We told the President we needed the government open. He resisted," Schumer said. "In fact, he said he would keep it closed for a very long period of time, months or even years."
More: Trump is weighing declaring emergency to get border funding without Congressional approval
The president, speaking from the Rose Garden, admitted he'd made the threat and when asked, told reporters that he was also discussing the possibility of declaring a national emergency to go around Congress and get funding for his wall, adding "I can do it if I want."
"We can call a national emergency because of the security of our country, absolutely," Trump said.
Jan. 8: Oval Office address, Dem response
In his first formal Oval Office address, President Donald Trump told Americans that a border wall is needed to keep the country safe.
Trump sought to pressure Democrats to agree to his request for $5.7 billion as a condition of ending the government shutdown. He also tried to ramp up support among Republicans who are getting nervous about government workers and others who are feeling the pain of the shutdown.
Trump emphasized humanitarian issues in an apparent appeal to Democrats. But he also spent several minutes discussing what he said was a crime problem stemming from migrants entering the country illegally, although he did not note that migrants commit crimes at lower rates than U.S. citizens.
"To every citizen, call Congress and tell them to finally, after all of these decades, secure our border," Trump said.
More: President Trump demands border wall in speech; Democrats accuse him of sowing fear
In their televised response, Pelosi and Schumer said Trump is using fear to try and achieve his wall at the expense of people who rely on government services.
"President Trump must stop holding the American people hostage, must stop manufacturing a crisis, and must reopen the government," Pelosi said.
Schumer added: "We don’t govern by temper tantrum," explaining "no president should pound the table and demand he gets his way or else the government shuts down, hurting millions of Americans who are treated as leverage."
Jan. 9: Trump storms out of meeting with Dems
Trump started off a meeting with top Democrats by offered candy. Things didn't end as sweet.
Trump walked out of a negotiating meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday and said he might declare a national emergency at the border after Democrats refused to yield to his demands for money for a border wall.
More: Trump walks out of meeting with congressional leaders, considers declaring emergency at border
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Trump abruptly ended the White House session after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she did not support his border wall.
"He just got up and said we have nothing to discuss, and he walked out," Schumer said. "He just walked out of the meeting.”
Schumer called Trump's behavior "unbecoming of a president."
Vice President Mike Pence and Republican lawmakers disputed the Democrats’ account and said the meeting ended after Democrats refused to offer a counterplan to reopen the government.
Republicans said that Trump offered to reopen the government immediately if Democrats would consider funding the $5.7 billion needed for a border wall. When Pelosi told him no, Trump left the meeting and said it was a waste of time.
Jan. 10: Trump visits southern border; negotiations sour
Trump blasted Democrats and touted his proposed border wall during a visit to Texas on Thursday hours after making his most explicit threat yet to declare a national emergency and sidestep Congress on the issue.
“If we had a barrier of any kind, a powerful barrier, whether its steel or concrete, we would stop it cold,” Trump said of the drugs, crime and human trafficking he has said are pouring into the United States in what the White House increasingly frames as a "crisis."
Trump's trip to McAllen, Texas, came hours after he laid out in his most explicit language yet a threat to bypass Democrats and declare a national emergency to free up additional funding for the border wall.
More: Government shutdown: Trump tours border, claims Democrats 'losing the argument'
"If this doesn’t work out, probably I will do it – I would almost say definitely,” Trump said of declaring a national emergency.
While Trump was in Texas, the House worked to pass spending bills to reopen the government. The House passed measures to reopen the Agriculture Department, Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development.
They also passed a measure to reopen federal financial agencies, such as the IRS and Treasury Department, both of which are vital to the upcoming tax refund season.
All of the bills aimed to put more pressure on Republicans and the Senate but were seen as symbolic as the president repeatedly said he would veto any measure that didn't include border wall funding.
Prominent lawmakers in Washington also met behind closed doors to find a compromise. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham held several talks in hopes of coming to some agreement to end the shutdown but they hit a snag.
"I have never been more depressed about moving forward than right now. I just don’t see a pathway forward," Graham said. He later called on Trump to declare a national emergency.
Jan. 16: Pelosi says Trump should delay State of the Union
Pelosi asked the president to reschedule his State of the Union address this month if the government remains shuttered – or deliver it in writing.
"Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on January 29th," Pelosi wrote in a letter to Trump on Wednesday.
Pelosi cited Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's designation of State of the Union addresses as a "National Special Security Event," which requires a high level of security. The Secret Service is responsible for such events, but the agency, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, is affected by the shutdown.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Trump "has a right" to give the speech and that Americans "have the right" to hear it.
“I think Speaker Pelosi is playing politics like I’ve never seen a speaker before," McCarthy said. "I think it’s unbecoming of the office to disinvite the president."
Jan. 17: Trump hits back, postpones Pelosi's trip
Trump threw a punch back at Pelosi by canceling her military plane for an overseas trip just one day after she suggested postponing his State of the Union address.
“Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan has been postponed,” Trump wrote in a letter to the California Democrat. “We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over.”
More: President Trump hits back at House Speaker Pelosi by canceling military plane for overseas trip
Trump didn't address Pelosi's request that he delay the State of the Union but focused instead on her overseas trip, which he called "a public relations event.” Trump said it would be better if Pelosi were in Washington “negotiating with me" to end a partial government shutdown that is nearing its fifth week.
“Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative,” he concluded.
Jan. 19: Trump's "major" announcement
Trump is preparing to give a speech on Saturday from the White House where he says he will make a "major announcement" about the southern border and the ongoing government shutdown.
Two officials familiar with the proposal told USA TODAY that Trump plans to offer Democrats protections for children of migrants who entered the United States illegally in exchange for his $5.7 billion border wall.
Congressional Democrats, however, questioned whether the offer would lead to a deal that would end the shutdown.
"It’s clearly a non-serious product of negotiations amongst White House staff to try to clean up messes the president created in the first place," said one Democratic aide, speaking on condition of anonymity to await the president's speech. "He’s holding more people hostage for his wall."
Contributing: Michael Collins, David Jackson and Eliza Collins
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Government shutdown: A look back at the major events, decisions and bills that got us here
