The House and Senate adjourned Thursday after brief pro forma sessions and made plans to reconvene Monday, essentially punting any action to end the partial government shutdown until next week as negotiators remain far from an agreement.
The halls of Congress were ghost town-esque on Thursday, with the two chambers meeting for only a few minutes each. Only a few lawmakers presided over the brief sessions, while congressional leaders and rank-and-file members were almost entirely absent.
Rep. Mark Meadows, a close ally of President Donald Trump, told CNN’s Dana Bash that negotiations “have not progressed” over the past 24 to 48 hours.
“At this point, it looks like we could be in for a very long-term shutdown,” the North Carolina Republican said on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
President Donald Trump continued to blame Democrats for the shutdown, which is now on its sixth day and affects roughly 25% of the federal government. He blasted them as obstructionists on Twitter, and he referenced the recent killing of a California police officer, allegedly by a suspect who is in the country illegally, as a reason to bolster his push for more border wall funds.