US government partially shuts as Congress, Trump fail to reach deal
Washington, Dec 22 : The US government began a Christmas shutdown early Saturday, after Congress adjourned without passing a federal spending bill or addressing President Donald Trump's demand for money to build a border wall.
Operations for several key agencies ceased at 12:01 am Saturday (5:01 GMT), despite last-ditch talks that continued on Capitol Hill between White House officials and congressional leaders in both parties.
Trump has dug in on his demand for USD 5 billion for construction of a wall on the US border with Mexico.
Democrats are staunchly opposed, and the absence of an elusive deal means federal funds for dozens of agencies lapsed when the clock struck midnight on Friday.
The shutdown is the third this year and it remained unclear how long it would last.
Trump expressed hope late Friday night that it "will not last long," after earlier saying he was ready for just that.
The optics are bad, as 800,000 federal employees will be either furloughed or forced to work without pay in the run-up to the Christmas holiday.
But the prospect of a large portion of government workers going without paychecks was not enough to spur lawmakers or the president to action.
The House of Representatives adjourned just before 7:00 pm Friday, with no moves taken to avert a shutdown, and the Senate closed up shop an hour later.
Both are due back in session at noon Saturday.
About three-quarters of the government, including the military and the Department of Health and Human Services, is fully funded until the end of September 2019, leaving 25 per cent unfunded as of Saturday.
Most NASA employees will be sent home, as will Commerce Department workers and many at the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Agriculture and State.
National parks will remain open, but most park staff will stay home.
While most critical security functions will be operational, the effects of the budget wrangling and uncertainty have cast an air of chaos over the capital, which is also reeling from the resignation announcement Thursday by Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.
Wall Street ended its worst week in a decade with more bruising losses Friday.
And the inability of Washington to accomplish one of its most basic tasks -- keeping the government up and running -- has caused deep embarrassment and anxiety.
"It's up to the Democrats whether or not we have a shutdown tonight," Trump said earlier Friday, blaming political opponents for the crisis.
"I hope we don't," the president added, but "we're totally prepared for a very long shutdown."
Senators told reporters that congressional leaders from both parties were negotiating behind the scenes with White House officials including Vice President Mike Pence, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and incoming chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
The power trio shuttled from one side of the Capitol to the other, seeking a breakthrough with Republicans and Democrats. It did not come on Friday.
Should they eventually strike a deal, it could swiftly clear Congress and reach the president's desk, said Senate Republican Bob Corker.
"Now Republicans and Democrats both own the success or failure to fund government."
One focus of discussion was the USD 1.6 billion in border security funding that was a part of pending Senate legislation, number two Senate Republican John Cornyn told AFP.
But conservatives in the House would likely balk at that figure.
"There's no agreement," congressman Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus of ultra-conservatives, told reporters as he left a closed-door meeting on the Capitol's Senate side.
"There's a whole lot of numbers being thrown around," but a maximum USD 1.6 billion for border security "is not acceptable." Cornyn suggested the art of the deal was less about grandstanding and more about a logical compromise to break the impasse.
"The House is at five (billion dollars for border security), the Democrats are at zero," he said.
"It doesn't sound like that's rocket science to come up with a figure."
Trump reversed course Thursday and rejected a measure that had unanimously passed the Senate and was under House consideration.
It would have extended government funding until February 8, but contained no money for a border wall, a pet project Trump has fought for since his presidential campaign.
Democrats painted Trump as the Grinch who stole the year-end deal.
"This #shutdown is brought to you by @POTUS & @HouseGOP," congresswoman Kathleen Rice tweeted.
"Instead of passing the Senate's funding bill, they decided to hold this country hostage."
With lawmakers like Meadows and prominent conservative commentators demanding that the president stick to his campaign promises, Trump doubled down on his wall.
The House swiftly passed a bill that fulfilled the president's demands. It included USD 5.7 billion in wall funding, and USD 7.8 billion in disaster relief.
But it stalled at the first hurdle in the Senate.
Trump was scheduled to fly to Florida Friday for his Christmas break, but he postponed the trip to help salvage a deal.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
