Washington • President Trump on Thursday claimed that “most of the people not getting paid” in the partial government shutdown are Democrats, days after he contended that many federal workers support his call for more border wall funding.
Trump made the claim in a morning tweet as the shutdown entered its sixth day, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed without pay amid signs pointing toward a prolonged standoff.
"Have the Democrats finally realized that we desperately need Border Security and a Wall on the Southern Border," Trump said in the tweet. "Need to stop Drugs, Human Trafficking,Gang Members & Criminals from coming into our Country. Do the Dems realize that most of the people not getting paid are Democrats?"
The message contrasted with Trump's claim in an Oval Office appearance on Christmas morning that "many of those workers" had told him to continue to shut down the government "until you get the funding for the wall."
"These federal workers want the wall," Trump said at the time.
About 25 percent of the federal government has been shut down since Saturday, with roughly 800,000 workers affected. At the heart of the stalemate is Trump’s demand for $5 billion in funding for his proposed wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. Congressional Democrats have rejected that figure and made counter-offers for border security of as much as $1.6 billion.
But the two sides remain deadlocked, and it appears unlikely that a resolution will come before the week is out. The Senate is set to convene at 4 p.m. Thursday, but no votes are scheduled. The House, meanwhile, is out of session until further notice, and the office of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said Wednesday that it will give lawmakers 24 hours' notice of any expected votes in the chamber.
A spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said Democrats' likely plan is to put a bill that funds the government, without money for Trump’s wall, on the floor on Jan. 3. That is the first day of the new session of Congress, when Democrats take control of the House.
Trump's tweet on Thursday prompted criticism from some Democrats who argued that federal workers are not the partisans the president has made them out to be.
"This is outrageous," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a tweet. "Federal employees don't go to work wearing red or blue jerseys. They're public servants. And the President is treating them like poker chips at one of his failed casinos."
The Washington Post’s Jeff Stein and Jenna Portnoy contributed to this report.
