President Trump said Saturday morning he is “in the White House ready to go” to negotiate to end the partial government shutdown, even as he claimed most federal employee not receiving paychecks are Democrats.
“I don’t care that most of the workers not getting paid are Democrats, I want to stop the Shutdown as soon as we are in agreement on Strong Border Security!” he tweeted, one of several tweets arguing for a border wall, the sticking point in negotiations over the spending bill that would end the shutdown.
I don’t care that most of the workers not getting paid are Democrats, I want to stop the Shutdown as soon as we are in agreement on Strong Border Security! I am in the White House ready to go, where are the Dems?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2019
In a 2016 election poll of federal workers by Government Executive, 44 percent identified as Democrats or Democratic-leaning, while 40 percent identified as Republican or Republican-leaning. Among Republican-identified workers, Trump led the primary field at the time.
Trump said Friday that Vice President Mike Pence would lead the weekend’s talks between the administration and Republican congressional leaders, talks Democrats were also invited to. Trump and congressional Democrats are at an impasse over more than $5 billion in funding for a border wall, leading to a partial government shutdown that has about 800,000 federal employees furloughed or working without pay.
Lawmakers have already introduced legislation to guarantee federal workers, who are eligible to apply for unemployment during the shutdown, back pay.
The president was expected to join White House senior staff at the Camp David compound in Maryland on Sunday to discuss the administration’s 2019 priorities, according to the Associated Press.
