Bill to end US shutdown for three weeks passed by House, signed by Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump signed a bill on Friday to reopen the government for three weeks, ending the longest shutdown in history, after the Democrat-majority US House of Representatives approved it.

Submitting to mounting pressure and growing disruption, President Donald Trump backed down from his demand that Congress give him money for his border wall before federal agencies get back to work.

Standing alone in the Rose Garden, Trump said he would sign legislation funding closed agencies until February 15 and try again to persuade lawmakers to finance his long-sought wall. The deal he reached with congressional leaders contains no new money for the wall.

Trump’s retreat came in the 35th day of the partial shutdown as delays at airports and a missed payday for hundreds of thousands of federal workers brought new urgency to efforts to resolve the stand-off.

The shutdown was ending as Democratic leaders had insisted it must – reopen the government first, then talk border security.

“The president thought he could crack Democrats and he didn’t and I hope it’s a lesson for him,” said the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of her members: “Our unity is our power. And that is what maybe the president underestimated.”

Trump still made the case for a border wall and maintained he might again shut down the government over it.

“If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on February 15, again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and Constitution of the United States to address this emergency,” Trump said.

He has been considering declaring a national emergency to fund the border wall unilaterally, a move that would almost certainly face legal hurdles.

He said a bipartisan committee of lawmakers would be formed to consider border spending before the new deadline.

“They are willing to put partisanship aside, I think, and put the security of the American people first,” Trump said. He asserted that “barrier or walls will be an important part of the solution.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he hopes there will be “good-faith negotiations over the next three weeks to try to resolve our differences” on border security.

The Senate swiftly and unanimously approved the deal later on Friday, without funding for the wall.

Schumer said Democrats oppose the wall money but agree on other ways to secure the border “and that bodes well for coming to an eventual agreement”.

Within the White House there was broad recognition among Trump’s aides on Friday that the shutdown pressure was growing and they could not keep the stand-off going indefinitely.

The president’s approval numbers had suffered during the impasse, and Republicans were openly calling on him to back down from his demands and reopen the government.

White House and congressional leaders hashed out the terms on Friday, though many were not sure Trump would commit to the plan until the final moments.

Overnight and into Friday, at least five Republican senators had been calling Trump, urging him to reopen the government and have the Senate consider his request for border wall money through regular legislation, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorised to discuss the private talks publicly.

The breakthrough came as LaGuardia Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey both experienced at least 90-minute delays in take-offs Friday due to the shutdown.

And the world’s busiest airport – Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – was experiencing long security wait times, a warning sign the week before it expects 150,000 out-of-town visitors for the Super Bowl.

Trump and the Democrats in Congress had remained at odds over his demand that any compromise include money for his coveted border wall.

The stand-off became so severe that, as the Senate opened with prayer, Chaplain Barry Black called on high powers in the “hour of national turmoil” to help senators do “what is right”.

Monday is the start of federal tax filing season. But fewer than half of the furloughed IRS employees recalled during the shutdown to handle tax returns and send out refunds reported for work as of Tuesday, according to congressional and government aides. The employees had been told to work without pay.

At the White House on Thursday, Trump told reporters he would support “a reasonable agreement” to reopen the government. He suggested he would also want a “prorated down payment” for his long-sought border wall with Mexico but did not describe the term.

He said he has “other alternatives” for getting wall money, an apparent reference to his disputed claim that he could declare a national emergency and fund the wall’s construction using other programmes in the federal budget.

Contributing to the pressure on lawmakers to find a solution was the harsh reality confronting 800,000 federal workers, who on Friday faced a second two-week payday with no pay cheques.