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Trump Warns Against «Devastating» US Gov’t Shutdown

Trump Warns Against «Devastating» US Gov’t Shutdown
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US President Donald Trump warned Thursday of the "devastating" consequences of a government shutdown even as he lobbed wrenches into intense Republican maneuvering to avoid a politically embarrassing funding debacle.

Trump Warns Against «Devastating» US Gov’t Shutdown

With the federal government set to run out of money at midnight Friday, the president added to the chaos with a burst of early morning tweets.

He second-guessed Republican leaders in Congress and slapped down his own chief of staff who had been leading a White House push on Capitol Hill for a budget compromise.

Arriving at the Pentagon for a visit, Trump told reporters the government "could very well" shut down Friday.

The House of Representatives was expected to vote as early as Thursday on a short-term funding measure, but it was unclear if Republicans had the votes to prevail.

In the event of a shutdown, federal employees for agencies considered non-essential are ordered to stay home until a budget deal is struck, at which point they are paid retroactively. The most recent shutdowns -- in 1995, 1996 and 2013 -- saw some 800,000 workers furloughed per day.

Key government bodies such as the White House, Congress, State Department and Pentagon would remain operational, but would likely furlough some staff. The military would still report for duty, but troops -- including those in combat -- would potentially not be paid.

The finger-pointing had already begun, with each side blaming the other for a failure to reach a budget compromise after three previous funding extensions.

"A government shutdown will be devastating to our military... something the Dems care very little about!" Trump tweeted.

And yet in another tweet, Trump criticized the Republican short-term funding measure, opposing a sweetener intended to make it hard for Democrats to vote against it.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said later he had spoken to the president, and insisted: "He fully supports passing what we're bringing to the floor today."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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