WASHINGTON (AP) — 11:50 a.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is resisting President Donald Trump's call to change Senate rules in order to pass a spending bill that would pay for Trump's border wall with Mexico.
Trump says McConnell should seek a rule change that lowers the threshold for ending Senate debate on legislation from 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to 51. A simple majority is currently used for judicial and executive nominations but does not apply to most legislation.
Trump tweets that McConnell should "use the Nuclear Option and get it done! Our Country is counting on you!"
McConnell has previously resisted Trump's calls for a rule change, and a spokesman is reiterating McConnell's opposition.
GOP Sens. Lamar Alexander and Orrin Hatch also say they oppose the rules change.
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10:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump is meeting with Republican senators as a midnight deadline approaches to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Among the senators who have gone to the White House are Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The goal is to try to resolve a standoff that threatens to shut down about 25 percent of the government.
Trump has tweeted that a government closure could drag on "for a very long time" and he's trying to blame congressional Democrats if no deal is reached on his demand for $5 billion for a border wall with Mexico.
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8:10 a.m.
President Donald Trump is saying that if Senate Democrats don't go along with his demand for border wall money, "there will be a shutdown that will last for a very long time."
And the White House is encouraging the Senate's Republican leader to change the chamber's rules in order to pass a government spending bill that includes billions for Trump's long-sought wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Press secretary Sarah Sanders says Trump would "love" for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to lower the Senate's threshold for ending debate on legislation from 60 votes to 51, as it currently stands for judicial appointments.
Trump, in a tweet aimed at McConnell, says: "Mitch, use the Nuclear Option and get it done! Our Country is counting on you!"
McConnell has previously resisted the rules change.
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7:30 a.m.
A week ago, President Donald Trump said he'd be "proud" to shut down the government if Congress, led by fellow Republicans, didn't give him the money he wanted for his long-promised border wall with Mexico.
Now, the government is heading toward a partial shutdown if a spending impasse isn't settled by midnight. And Trump is saying that if enough Senate Democrats don't go along with a House-passed plan that includes the border money, then it'll be a "Democrat Shutdown!"
And Trump is tweeting that the Senate's Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, "should fight for the Wall and Border Security as hard as he fought for anything."
But as it's shaping up, the plan is expected to fall short in the Senate.
Trump has bent to conservative pressure and overruled many advisers by backing away from a stopgap bill without the wall money that would have averted the looming shutdown.
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1 a.m.
The federal government is heading toward a partial shutdown by day's end over President Donald Trump's demand for money for a long-promised border wall with Mexico.
The Senate is being called back to session to consider a package approved by House Republicans. It includes $5.7 billion Trump wants for the southern border with Mexico. And it's probably going to be rejected by senators.
The White House says Trump won't travel to Florida on Friday as planned for Christmas if the government is shutting down. The deadline for a deal is at midnight.
More than 800,000 federal workers will be facing furloughs or forced to work without pay. The Department of Veterans Affairs and others agencies will operate as usual.
At issue is in the impasse is money for other departments, including Homeland Security, and for national parks.
Senators already passed their own short-term spending bill with border security money, but that plan provided no money for the wall.
