Democrats approve legislation to end US government shutdown
The Democrats flex their muscle as a new-look Congress reconvenes - but the package looks certain to be shot down.
Friday 4 January 2019 06:53, UK
The House of Representatives has approved legislation that would end a government shutdown in the US - but have ignored President Trump's demand for billions extra for his border wall.
It comes on the day the Democrats took control of the House after winning 235 seats in November's midterm elections.
The legislation includes a bill to fund Homeland Security at current levels until 8 February, but crucially not the additional $5bn (£3.95bn) that President Trump wants to help build a wall on the Mexico border.
It also allows for funding for the government departments affected by the partial shutdown, including agriculture, transportation and interior.
However, the legislation looks extremely unlikely to pass into law.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, where the Democrats are outnumbered, has dismissed it as "political theatre, not productive lawmaking".
He said the Senate would not deal with any legislation that was likely to be vetoed by the president.
The stalemate is therefore set to continue in the short term, with around 800,000 government employees affected by the partial shutdown.
President Trump earlier used a surprise appearance at a White House news conference to press home his case for the wall - which he says is vital to stop illegal immigration and stop criminals entering the US.
He said he had "never had so much support" from the public for his plan.
"You can call it a barrier - you can call it whatever you want - but essentially we need protection in our country," said Mr Trump.
"We're going to make it good. The people of our country want it.
But with the Democrats now holding power in the House of Representatives, the president's agenda is set to get a tougher ride.
It was an historic day as Congress reconvened with more women than ever before, including a Somali refugee, the first Muslim women elected, as well as the youngest woman.
In her first remarks to the House, re-elected Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: "We all have the ability and the privilege to serve and to serve with over 100 women members of Congress, the largest number in history."
She also said she was pleased to be Speaker of the House in the 100th year since women won the right to vote.
Ms Pelosi said: "This House will be for the people to lower health costs and prescription drugs prices, and protect people with pre-existing conditions; to increase paychecks by rebuilding America with green and modern infrastructure - from sea to shining sea."
Newly elected representatives brought their children to Washington DC for the swearing-in, and posed for photographs after taking the oath of office.
They were pictured talking excitedly to one another and veterans of the House as they prepared for the ceremony.
New senators found their desks and some looked inside to see whether their predecessors had left their signatures.
Vice President Mike Pence swore in the new senators in groups of four.
Ms Pelosi returns to the Speaker role after eight years in the minority and leads a new generation being dubbed "representative democracy", as those in the House begin to look more like the make-up of the US.
But she may not see eye-to-eye with everyone, including the youngest woman to be elected to the House, Alexandria Oscario-Cortez, who has already said she will vote against a new package of rules to govern the chamber.
The 29-year-old is one of several liberals who oppose the pay-as-you-go budget provisions which they say will hamper their efforts to invest in health care, education and renewable energy deals.
Among the other history-makers in the House is Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, a Muslim who came to the US as a refugee from Somalia.
She tweeted: "23 years ago, from a refugee camp in Kenya, my father and I arrived at an airport in Washington DC. Today, we return to that same airport on the eve of my swearing in as the first Somali-American in Congress."
Rashida Tlaib is the other of the two Muslim women who are the first in the House.
Deb Haaland and Sharice Davis have become the first Native American women in the House, while Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia are Texas' first Latina Congresswomen.