House votes on spending bill, border wall ahead of government shutdown

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker designate Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speak to reporters after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 11, 2018.

At the news conference with Schumer, Pelosi called the House bill “shameful.” She contended the “president is doing everything that he can to shut the government down” — warning about a shutdown’s potential effects on financial markets.

“Doesn’t he know the economy is uncertain? Hasn’t he followed the stock market? … There’s something wrong with this picture,” she said, after a day in which the Dow Jones industrial average fell to a 14-month low.

Schumer tied stock markets, the potential shutdown and Defense Secretary James Mattis’ resignation together in arguing Trump “is plunging the country into chaos.”

Republicans hoped to pass the so-called clean spending bill earlier in the day. However, some GOP members hesitated to support it without knowing whether Trump would sign it. The president’s opposition doomed it in the House.

Lawmakers have already passed funding bills for five agencies, including the Pentagon and Department of Health and Human Services. Congress still needs to fund departments such as State and Homeland Security.

A shutdown would be the third this year. It would likely last through Christmas and into the new year, at least until Democrats take control of the House on Jan. 3.

Government employees considered essential would still work during that time. However, some of those workers would not get paid temporarily.

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