Washington • Congress gaveled open for a rare Saturday session days before Christmas as America’s elected leaders partially shut down the government, unable to find a compromise over money for President Donald Trump’s promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump is demanding $5 billion, but congressional Democrats are refusing to accede in a stalemate that provides a chaotic coda for Republicans in the waning days of their two-year reign controlling government.
The president jettisoned his Florida holiday getaway to Mar-a-Lago, tweeting, "I am in the White House, working hard." Trump was hosting a lunch with conservative lawmakers, including House Freedom Caucus chiefs Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio, and several senators, among them Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.