BREAKING: Trump backs down, agrees to temporarily reopen government

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 25 at 12:30 p.m.) — President Trump today announced that he has agreed to temporarily reopen the federal government for three weeks while his negotiations with congressional leaders continue regarding his demands for billions of dollars to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Congress could vote as soon as today to approve the short-term appropriations bills that would reopen all federal agencies and fund back pay for all furloughed and unpaid federal employees, but it’s not clear how long it will take for those employees to get what they have earned.

American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. today issued the following statement:

“For 35 days and counting, 800,000 federal employees have been locked out of their jobs or forced to work without pay due to an entirely deliberate government shutdown. The agreement reached by the White House and Congress would re-open the government for three weeks, allowing employees to start receiving paychecks for the first time this year.

“While reopening the government is long overdue, I will not celebrate a temporary reprieve to a politically motivated crisis that has left many federal employees in anguish over how to pay their bills, feed their families, and keep a roof over their heads.

“Over the next three weeks, Congress must pass full-year appropriations for all government agencies as well legislation to make all affected federal employees whole. We are also urging Congress to act to prevent the use of shutdowns from ever occurring again.”