Trump says a shutdown would ‘last for a very long time’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a midnight deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump said Friday a closure would drag on “for a very long time” and he tried to lay blame on congressional Democrats if there’s no deal over his demand for U.S.-Mexico border wall money.

Only a week ago, Trump said he would be “proud” to shut down the government, which Republicans now control, in the name of border security. “I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down,” he asserted.

But with the hours dwindling before the midnight deadline, Trump sought to reframe the debate and make Democrats the holdouts to settling an impasse that threatens hundreds of thousands of federal workers on the eve of the end-of-the-year holidays.

And he exhorted the Senate’s Republican leader to corral enough Democratic votes to send a House-passed plan to the White House, even though the measure is almost certain to be rejected in the Senate.

“Senator Mitch McConnell should fight for the Wall and Border Security as hard as he fought for anything. He will need Democrat votes, but as shown in the House, good things happen. If enough Dems don’t vote, it will be a Democrat Shutdown!” he tweeted.

Trump also encouraged McConnell, R-Ky., to change the Senate’s rules in order to pass the spending bill, lowering the threshold for ending debate on legislation from 60 votes to 51, as it currently stands for judicial appointments.

“Mitch, use the Nuclear Option and get it done! Our Country is counting on you!,” Trump tweeted, though McConnell has previously resisted the rules change.