Democrats call on Trump to back bills to end shutdown

House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., walk to speak with reporters after a meeting with President Donald Trump on border security at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., walk to speak with reporters after a meeting with President Donald Trump on border security at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

4:15 p.m.

Top congressional Democrats are calling on President Donald Trump to back bills that would re-open the federal government, declaring that he was using the American people as "hostages" in the fight for a border wall.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer met Trump at the White House Wednesday for a briefing on border security.

The session did not yield any breakthroughs, and Democrats said they remained committed to introducing the legislation Thursday. The administration has so far rejected the plan, which does not include funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Schumer said Trump could not provide a "good answer" for opposing the bills. He added that Trump and Republicans "are now feeling the heat."

3:55 p.m.

Republican congressional leaders say the president has asked them and top Democrats to return to the White House on Friday for a second briefing on border security as the partial government shutdown continues.

Incoming House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California tells reporters that Homeland Security officials didn't finish the briefing that the group attended on Wednesday afternoon at the White House.

McCarthy says Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer interrupted multiple times and that the president now wants them to return on Friday, after the congressional leadership races.

The partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22 after Trump refused to sign a budget deal that didn't include billions of dollars for his long-promised and long-stalled southern border wall.

He'd described the briefing as an opportunity for border officials to make their case to Democrats on the need for a wall.

3:20 P.M.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says the southern border is "like a sieve," and he's lamenting how U.S. authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the first hours of the new year to repel about 150 migrants trying to breach the border fence in Tijuana.

Trump spoke during a White House meeting with his Cabinet as the partial government shutdown continues into its 12th day. Congress and the president are at an impasse over funding for Trump's pet project, a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump says a complete wall is needed. Trump says people then couldn't enter unless they were a "champion pole vaulter."

In 2000, about 1.6 million people were apprehended crossing illegally. In fiscal year 2017, there were about 310,000.

EARLIER:

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is convening a border security briefing Wednesday for Democratic and Republican congressional leaders as a partial government shutdown over his demand for border wall funding entered its 12th day.

The president "wants an agreement that reopens the government AND keeps Americans safe," the White House said on Twitter. But so far, the administration has rejected a proposal from Democrats to re-open government without money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Ahead of the afternoon session, Trump meets with Cabinet secretaries in his first public appearance of the new year. Vice President Mike Pence was expected to join as the shutdown drags into its second week, shuttering parks and leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay.

"Let's make a deal?" Trump asked in a Tuesday tweet.

The partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22. Funding for the wall has been the sticking point in passing funding bills for several government departments.

The Wednesday afternoon briefing with the congressional leaders is taking place the day before Democrats are to assume control of the House and end the Republican monopoly on government.

The session will be held in the high-security Situation Room at the White House, which is typically used to handle sensitive information. The location means that the conversation will not be televised, unlike Trump's volatile sit-down with Democratic leaders last month.

The exact agenda, however, was not immediately clear, according to a person with knowledge of the briefing who was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the top incoming House Republicans — Kevin McCarthy of California and Steve Scalise of Louisiana — planned to attend, according to aides. The departing House speaker, Paul Ryan, was not expected.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who is expected to become speaker on Thursday, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer planned to attend. Pelosi said Tuesday that Democrats would take action to "end the Trump Shutdown" by passing legislation Thursday to reopen government.

"We are giving the Republicans the opportunity to take yes for an answer," she wrote in a letter to colleagues. "Senate Republicans have already supported this legislation, and if they reject it now, they will be fully complicit in chaos and destruction of the President's third shutdown of his term."

Check back for updates and read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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