Trump puts forward new proposal to overcome govt shutdown

Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he had put forward a new proposal to overcome the ongoing government shutdown, which will be brought before the Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell next week.

The proposal, which the US president described as a compromise, envisages allocating $5.7 billion for the construction of wall on the border with Mexico in exchange for adopting a bill to extend to three years the protection against deportation for immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children (DACA) and guaranteed protection for individuals with the “temporary protected” status.

The Democratic Party said it would reject the proposal. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ruled out any kind of compromise, describing the proposal as “a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable.”

The work of the US federal government bodies has been partially suspended starting from December 22 due to lack of funding. The logjam was caused by a dispute between the Democratic and the Conservative forces in the Congress over the state budget. Trump and his supporters want the budget to include over $5 billion for the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico. The Democrats reject the initiative, saying that only $1.3 billion can be provided for the purpose.

As a result, nearly a quarter of US government bodies were left without financing, including the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security.