WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said his administration planned to produce a list on Friday of “Democrat programs” that will be closed as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown.
He did not specify the programs but indicated to reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the closures would be permanent.
Meanwhile, the Senate failed in its eighth attempt to pass legislation approved last month by the House of Representatives that would end the shutdown by providing government funding through November 21.
The Senate voted 49-45 to advance the bill, short of the 60 yes votes needed in the 100-member Senate controlled by Republicans.
The government shutdown entered its third week with Republican and Democratic lawmakers continuing to blame each other for the impasse.
“Only Democrats have made demands, and by the way, very expensive demands” in return for voting to reopen the government, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, said in a speech to the Senate on Tuesday.
Senate Democrats are pushing to use their legislative leverage of withholding necessary votes for a stopgap funding bill to advocate for health care fixes. Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who represents many furloughed federal workers and military personnel, told NPR’s Morning Edition on Tuesday it will take Trump engaging with Democrats to end the shutdown.
“If the president engages, we can solve this in 48 hours,” Kaine said.
Some federal workers and military personnel are facing the prospect of missing a paycheck for lack of funds. However, the Trump administration has said that it will redirect some money to avoid any interruptions of troops’ pay.
Thune did not allow a vote this time on a Democratic alternative, which would reopen the government with temporary funding but also include money to permanently extend a federal health care tax credit, which Republicans are opposing.
Trump says he will unveil list on Friday of ‘Democrat programs’ to be shut
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Trump says he will unveil list on Friday of ‘Democrat programs’ to be shut
- The Senate voted 49-45 to advance the bill, short of the 60 yes votes needed in the 100-member Senate controlled by Republicans
US will respond to Rwanda’s violation of peace pact, says Rubio
- Waltz told the Security Council meeting that the US “is deeply concerned and increasingly disappointed” by this resurgence of violence
WASHINGTON: Top US diplomat Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Rwanda had clearly violated the peace agreement it signed with the Democratic Republic of Congo in Washington last week and vowed unspecified “action” in response.
The Rwandan-backed M23 armed group advanced in eastern DRC and seized the key border city of Uvira, just days after the leaders signed the “Washington Accords” on Dec. 4.
“Rwanda’s actions in eastern DRC are a clear violation of the Washington Accords, and the US will take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept,” Secretary of State Rubio wrote on X.
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UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned the new offensive ‘has revived the specter of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences.’
The capture of Uvira, along the border with Burundi, has raised fears that the conflict could escalate into a regional war.
As part of an offensive launched at the beginning of December in South Kivu province, the armed group’s takeover follows its earlier this year capture of Goma and Bukavu, other major cities in the DRC’s mineral-rich east.
On Friday, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz accused Rwanda of “leading the region toward more instability and toward war.”
“The Rwandan defense forces have provided materiel, logistics, and training support to M23 as well as fighting alongside M23 in DRC with roughly 5,000 to 7,000 troops,” not including possible reinforcements during the latest offensive, Waltz told the UN Security Council.
The Rwandan firepower has included surface-to-air missiles, drones, and artillery, he added.
Since taking up arms again in 2021, the M23 has seized swaths of territory, displacing tens of thousands and leading to a spiraling humanitarian crisis.
Earlier this month, UN experts said Rwanda’s army and the M23 had carried out summary executions and forced mass displacements of people in the region.
Waltz told the Security Council meeting that the US “is deeply concerned and increasingly disappointed” by this resurgence of violence.
The envoy denounced “the scale and sophistication” of Rwanda’s involvement in eastern DRC.
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned the new offensive “has revived the specter of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences.”
“Recent developments pose a serious risk of the progressive fragmentation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly its eastern part,” he said.
Burundi on Friday accused Rwanda of bombing its territory, and its ambassador, Zephyrin Maniratanga, told the council it “reserves the right to use self-defense.”
He warned that if the attacks continue, it would be extremely difficult to avoid an escalation between the two African countries.
“Rwanda is not waging war against the Republic of Burundi and has no intention of doing that,” Ambassador Martin Ngoga said.
Meanwhile, Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner criticized the Security Council for its “lack of action” and called for sanctions against Rwanda.
Despite a resolution adopted in February demanding the withdrawal of Rwandan troops and a ceasefire, “the situation is undeniable: another city has fallen, a parallel administration has consolidated itself, thousands more families have fled, and others have been killed, raped, and terrorized,” she said.
