WASHINGTON--As the U.S. government moved to reopen after a 35-day partial shutdown, some lawmakers on Sunday criticized using the closure of federal agencies as a tool in policy disputes, which President Donald Trump has threatened to do again.
Senior legislators from both parties said the latest shutdown, the 19th since the mid-1970s, was as ineffective as previous ones but much more disruptive as it was the longest in U.S. history. "Shutdowns are not good leverage in any negotiation," Republican Senator Marco Rubio said on NBC's "Meet the Press," urging congressional conferees to tackle border security in the three-week talks launched by last week's shutdown-ending deal.
Hakeem Jeffries, chairman of the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives, said on the same television show that shutdowns were "not legitimate negotiating tactics" in public policy disagreements between two branches of government.
About 800,000 federal workers were furloughed or worked without pay during the shutdown, missing at least two paychecks that officials are now working to make up for. "We hope that by the end of this week, all the back pay will be made up," acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Payroll providers vary by agency, he said, so some employees may get paid earlier than others. Payments to contractors, he said, will depend on their contracts.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Republican Senator Rob Portman have introduced separate bills to prevent future shutdowns. Prospects for the legislation were unclear, but House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy spoke favorably of them on "Meet the Press".
Trump retreated on Friday from his demand for funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall that had caused the closure of about a quarter of the government. He also threatened to resume the shutdown on Feb. 15 if he does not get what he wants.
The president demanded that $5.7 billion in wall funding be part of any measure to end the shutdown, which started when several agencies ran out of money on Dec. 22 for reasons unrelated to immigration or border security.
Mulvaney said on Sunday he believed Trump is willing to shut down the government again if he does not reach a deal with Congress on border security. "Yeah, actually I think he is," Mulvaney said on "Face the Nation". "He is willing to do whatever it takes to secure the border. He does take this very seriously," Mulvaney said.
