US House Democrats to test Republicans on Trump’s wall demand
Democrats push for reopening of departments and agencies shutdown in December
Washington — As a partial US government shutdown entered its 19th day, Democrats on Wednesday were set to test Republicans’ resolve in backing President Donald Trump’s drive to build a wall on the border with Mexico, which has sparked an impasse over agency funding. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats, who took control of the chamber last week, plan to advance a bill to immediately reopen the treasury department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and several other agencies that have been in partial shutdown mode since December 22. Democrats are eager to force Republicans to choose between funding the treasury’s Internal Revenue Service — at a time when it should be gearing up to issue tax refunds to millions of Americans — and voting to keep it partially shuttered. In a countermove, the Trump administration said on Tuesday that even without a new shot of funding, the Internal Revenue Service would somehow make sure those refund cheques get sen...
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