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Trump walks out of shutdown meeting with top Democrats, calling it 'total waste of time' – as it happened

This article is more than 5 years old

Chuck Schumer told reporters the president slammed the table and walked out as Trump backs up his account, saying: ‘I said bye-bye’

 Updated 
in Oakland and in Washington
Wed 9 Jan 2019 19.49 ESTFirst published on Wed 9 Jan 2019 09.20 EST
Donald Trump speaks to reporters in Washington DC on 9 January.
Donald Trump speaks to reporters in Washington DC on 9 January. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Donald Trump speaks to reporters in Washington DC on 9 January. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

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Key events

Summary

We’re ending our live coverage for the day, thanks for following along. A recap of the major developments:

  • There was no end to the shutdown in sight after Donald Trump abruptly ended a meeting with Democratic leaders, calling it a “total waste of time”.
  • Some Republicans have said they would support reopening the government without wall funding, but Trump urged Senate Republicans to “stick together”.
  • Trump also claimed he had the “absolute right” to declare an emergency, saying the “threshold” for the declaration is if he can’t broker a deal with Congress.
  • House Democrats are planning to start passing individual spending bills that would reopen closed departments in hopes of ratcheting up pressure on Republicans.
  • Democrats have also pushed legislation that would prohibit creditors and landlords from taking actions against federal workers hurt by the shutdown.
  • New details emerged about how the shutdown was affecting the EPA and the FDA.
  • News broke that deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein is expected to step down.
  • Billionaire Tom Steyer announced he would not be running for president, but that he plans to spend at least $40m on impeachment efforts.
  • The New Hampshire Democratic party announced that Elizabeth Warren would be the keynote speaker at the party’s major fundraising dinner.

The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino is following Senator Kamala Harris this evening at a book event that has drawn a large crowd in Washington DC:

The line to see Kamala Harris speak about her new book “The truths we hold” pic.twitter.com/zSP3L5fdZY

— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) January 9, 2019

Lissa Muscatine intro'ing Kamala Harris at a Politics and Prose book discussion draws loud cheers when she says audience members wouldn't be alone if they could see Harris in a couple of years "taking up residence at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue".

— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) January 10, 2019

Asked about why Harris chose a career as a prosecutor, she describes having to defend the decision to her family "like I would a thesis". She described herself as a "progressive prosecutor"

— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) January 10, 2019

Some Democrats have also pushed a measure today that would prohibit creditors and landlords from taking actions against federal workers hurt by the shutdown:

Today we are introducing a bill to prohibit creditors and landlords from taking action against any federal employee or contractor hurt by the Trump shutdown. It’s the least we can do. Would be great to have a few Republican cosponsors.

— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) January 9, 2019

Legislation could potentially protect employees from foreclosures, evictions and loan defaults:

Our public servants & their families shouldn’t be threatened w/ being thrown out of their homes because of the President's manufactured crisis. Cosponsored @brianschatz's bill to protect Nevada federal workers from foreclosures, evictions & loan defaults during a gov't shutdown. https://t.co/wNHl618ehY

— Senator Cortez Masto (@SenCortezMasto) January 9, 2019

Trump last week encouraged landlords to be “be nice and easy” to tenants hurt by the shutdown and struggling to pay rent.

The White House is reportedly discussing a scenario to reopen the government that would involve Trump declaring a national emergency, the courts intervening, and Congress and the president ending the shutdown while the case is going through litigation, according to the Wall Street Journal:

White House officials discussing a potential exit ramp in the shutdown fight: Trump declares national emergency; courts intervene and stay the order; he and Congress re-open the gov't while case is litigated. https://t.co/e1wrN0Tii9

— Peter Nicholas (@PeterWSJ) January 9, 2019

It’s unclear if the president is interested in this option:

Been discussing this off-ramp awhile. POTUS has been pulled in a few different directions, including by conservative supporters who don’t think this is a good way to go. https://t.co/QaX9Qcfe00

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 9, 2019

The federal government has halted some routine food inspections due to the shutdown. The AP has some details on the impact on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

The US government isn’t doing routine food inspections because of the partial federal shutdown, but checks of the riskiest foods are expected to resume next week.

The Food and Drug Administration says it’s working to bring back about 150 employees to inspect riskier foods such as cheese, infant formula and produce. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the agency can’t make the case that “a routine inspection of a Nabisco cracker facility” is necessary during the shutdown, however.

The FDA conducts about 8,400 inspections a year, or an average of 160 a week. Gottlieb said riskier foods account for about a third of the food covered by the agency’s domestic inspections.

Some more information here:

There’s discussion today that we've “stopped” high risk food surveillance inspections. Fact: We’re working to continue those inspections. It's true in 2013 shutdown, those inspections were stopped. We’ve taken a different posture based on sound public health and legal rationale.

— Scott Gottlieb, M.D. (@SGottliebFDA) January 9, 2019

The shutdown has had a severe impact on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with cuts that could put Americans’ health at risk moving forward. Guardian environment reporter Oliver Milman reports:

  • More than 13,000 employees at the EPA are not at work, with just 794 people deemed essential staff currently undertaking the agency’s duties.
  • Routine activities such as checks on regulated businesses, clean-ups of toxic superfund sites and the pursuit of criminal polluters have been paused since 28 December.
  • Disaster relief payments to people harmed by hurricanes Michael and Florence have been delayed.
  • Preparations to battle wildfires in Alaska have been hampered.
  • Testing to ensure toxic chemicals aren’t leaking into the lower Cape Fear river in North Carolina has been halted.
  • Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami have suspended work on predicting the next storm season, in the wake of a punishing series of hurricanes in 2018.

Read more here:

An estimated 35.3 million people watched Trump speak live on Tuesday night in his televised address that used falsehoods and misleading statistics to claim there was a crisis at the US-Mexico border.

Here are some stats on viewers from Nielsen, via the AP:

Fox News Channel with 8.044 million viewers and CBS with 8.043 million were in a virtual dead heat as the top destination. NBC was third with 7 million, followed by ABC, MSNBC, CNN and Fox broadcasting.

The total, which came from 11 separate networks that decided to air the speech live, was about 10m fewer viewers than Trump had for his 2018 State of the Union address.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo is facing some backlash for a joke he made about the #MeToo movement while telling reporters to move back earlier today:

Andrew Cuomo just had a semi-impromptu gaggle with reporters.

It started with an aide asking us to move back a few steps to give him room.

“I’ll bring you all up on charges under the Me Too movement,” Cuomo said. pic.twitter.com/fLe5ddnIyJ

— Jon Campbell (@JonCampbellGAN) January 9, 2019

Trump has repeatedly mocked the #MeToo movement, and so have some Democrats:

Trump has made plenty of jokes about the #metoo movement on the campaign trail, but so have Dem politicians. See Cuomo below, and also this awkward John Kerry exchange from November: https://t.co/TPwpN3vXcq https://t.co/AQC8mOGBKt

— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) January 9, 2019

Electeds, please take note: our trauma is not a joke. Our calls for a safe working environment are not funny. Making a mockery of the #MeToo movement won’t score you points. We want allies in office who will change the culture, not comedians who laugh at our expense. https://t.co/Kaa5vdia0y

— Erica Vladimer (@EricaArden) January 9, 2019
Lauren Gambino
Lauren Gambino

Here’s what we know about the Situation Room meeting Trump called a “waste of time”.

There was candy. Butterfingers, Babe Ruth’s, M&Ms and possibly skittles. It resolved nothing.

The Democratic leaders tried to humanize the shutdown by talking about its impacts, according to a congressional aide.

They emphasized that Democrats do want borders security – but that a wall wouldn’t stop the flow of drugs or illegal border crossings.

Trump, according to the aide, talked about “thousands” storming the border and claimed without evidence that large numbers of women being trafficked over the border “with tape over their mouths”.

Per a congressional aide familiar with the meeting, Trump talked about a large numbers of women being trafficked over the border with tape over their mouths. Unclear of the evidence supporting that claim.

— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) January 9, 2019

At one point during the discussion, the Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: “You are using people as leverage. Why won’t you open the government and stop hurting people?

According to the aide, Trump replied: “Because then you won’t give me what I want.”

Trump then asked Pelosi if he “quickly” re-opened the government would she support a wall in 30 days. The speaker said she would not.

“What’s the point?” Trump responded. In a disputed account, he slammed his hands on table. But all agreed that it ended with him saying: “Bye bye”

US Coast Guard employees impacted by the government shutdown were given tips on how to make up for lost wages: consider babysitting, dog-walking or holding a garage sale, according to a new report in the Washington Post.

Those suggestions apparently came in a five-page tip sheet that also said: “Bankruptcy is a last option.”

US govt to Coast Guard: While you're working without pay, why not sell your possessions for a little extra cash? https://t.co/4jptOssLwQ

— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) January 9, 2019

The Coast Guard gets funding from homeland security and currently has roughly 6,400 employees on indefinite furlough, along with 2,100 working without pay, the paper reported.

A spokesperson told the Post that the suggestions in the tip sheet did not “reflect the Coast Guard’s current efforts to support our workforce during this lapse in appropriations”, and that the “guidance” had now been removed from its website.

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Summary

Sam Levin here, taking over our live coverage of the government shutdown as negotiations have once again failed. A quick summary of key highlights from the day:

  • Donald Trump abruptly ended a meeting with Democratic leaders, calling it a “total waste of time”.
  • The president met with Senate Republicans in a closed-door meeting earlier, urging them to “stick together”.
  • Some Republicans have said they would support reopening the government without wall funding, but Trump has claimed the GOP is “unified”.
  • Trump also claimed he has the “absolute right” to declare an emergency, saying the “threshold” for the declaration is if he can’t broker a deal with Congress.
  • House Democrats are planning to start passing individual spending bills that would reopen closed departments in hopes of ratcheting up pressure on Republicans.
  • Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the the president was using federal workers as “hostages through a temper tantrum”.
  • News broke that deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein is expected to step down.
  • Billionaire Tom Steyer announced he would not be running for president, but that he plans to spend at least $40m on impeachment efforts.
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More on this story

More on this story

  • Border security deal reached to avert another US shutdown

  • Jitters mount as second US shutdown looms after talks stall over border wall

  • Six key things to know about Trump's border wall speech

  • Pelosi and Schumer reply to Trump's border wall speech – in full

  • Donald Trump fuels immigration fears in TV address on 'border crisis'

  • Government shutdown: how bad is it and can it be resolved?

  • Trump is staking his presidency on the shutdown and his wall

  • Tell us: how have you been affected by the government shutdown?

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