Shutdown talk recedes after White House eases wall threat
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and leaders in Congress appeared to be pulling back Tuesday from a government shutdown over his $5 billion request for border wall funds, with the first signs of movement toward a possible end to the standoff.
The White House set the tone early when Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders indicated Trump — who just last week said he’d be “proud” to shut down the government — doesn’t want to after all. The president would consider other options and the administration was looking at ways to find the funding elsewhere, Sanders said.
“The president has asked every agency to look and see if they have money that can be used,” Sanders said.
It was a turnaround after days of impasse. Without a resolution, more than 800,000 government workers could be furloughed or sent to work without pay, disrupting government operations days before Christmas.