Trump Announces Deal with Democrats to Temporarily End Government Shutdown

US President Donald Trump announces a deal with Democrats to temporarily reopen the government which has been shut down since December 22.

“I am very proud to announce today that we have reached a deal to end the shutdown and reopen the federal government,” Trump said on Friday, according to Press TV.

“In a short while, I will sign a bill to open our government for three weeks, until February 15,” he added in an address in the White House Rose Garden.

The spending bill Trump and Democrats agreed to does not contain the $5.7 billion he needs for a wall along the US-Mexico border.

The House unanimously approved the bill hours after the Senate backed the measure by voice vote, sending it to Trump to sign it into law.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the deal reflected the insistence of Democrats that funding the government is different from disagreements over border security.

“This agreement endorses that position,” Schumer said. “It reopens the government without any preconditions and gives Democrats and Republicans an opportunity to discuss border security without holding hundreds of thousands of American workers hostage.”

H.M