White House, Congressional Democrats See No Deal on Shutdown or Border.

Central American migrants near the United States border in Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, last month.CreditGuillermo Arias/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Chances look slim for ending the partial government shutdown any time soon.

Lawmakers are away from Washington for the holidays and have been told they will get 24 hours’ notice before having to return for a vote. And although the Senate is slated to come into session Thursday afternoon, few senators were expected to be around for it.


After a weekend and two holiday days for federal employees, Wednesday was the first regularly scheduled workday affected by the closure of a variety of federal services.


Trump vowed to hold the line on his budget demand, telling reporters during his visit to Iraq on Wednesday that he’ll do “whatever it takes” to get money for border security. He declined to say how much he would accept in a deal to end the shutdown.

“You have to have a wall, you have to have protection,” he said.