No progress is being reported on ending the partial closure that began Dec. 22 and entered its seventh day Friday.

Last week, Pence told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that the president would agree to a deal that included US$2.5 billion for border security, half the $5 billion he’s publicly demanded, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

But Schumer and likely House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are sticking with their offer of US$1.3 billion for border security, without allowing the administration to build new sections of wall.

Some federal workers began to feel the pain of the partial US government shutdown on Friday.

The first paychecks were going out with reduced funds for employees who were assigned to work without pay on the first day of the shutdown, a Saturday, or who began their furlough that day. If Trump’s standoff with Democrats over a wall at the US-Mexico border continues, all workers in the nine departments and dozens of agencies affected by the closure will miss their next paycheck on Jan. 11.

Gifts returned
“I’ve had members come to me saying they are returning holiday and Christmas presents they bought because they are worried about paying rent,” National Treasury Employees Union President Tony Reardon said in an interview Thursday. “Congress should be doing everything in its power to get the government up and running again.”

Democrats have little incentive to negotiate until they take over the House of Representatives on Jan. 3 and gain leverage in the talks. Schumer’s spokesman, Justin Goodman, said both sides remain far apart.

“We on the Republican side do not want to vote for a bill the president won’t sign,” Senator Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, told reporters in the Capitol Thursday. “So hopefully Senator Schumer and the Democrat leadership will come up with a number that satisfies the president for border security.”

Resolution of the standoff may end up involving a face-saving deal on a barrier that Trump can call a wall.

“They can call it anything they want to, barrier or fence,“ Roberts said.

There’s little indication of any imminent agreement to resolve the standoff as the new Congress is set to convene next week. Trump is demanding US$5 billion for the wall, while Democratic leaders have proposed US$1.3 billion for border security. Congressional leaders remained out of town, while Trump returned to Washington early Thursday from an unannounced visit to US troops in Iraq. The Senate and House held brief sessions on Thursday but took no votes. Lawmakers will be given 24 hours notice if there is a breakthrough that would require a vote.