Going nowhere: America's shutdown 2018年12月22日,因总统特朗普和民主党人在美墨边境隔离墙修建问题上分歧严重,双方未能就政府拨款达成一致,近1/4的美国联邦政府机构相继停摆,约80万联邦政府雇员被迫无薪工作或被强制休假。 上周末,特朗普提出,如果国会民主党人同意为美墨边境墙拨款57亿美元,他将为近100万非法移民提供暂时身份及保护。但民主党人认为边界建墙成本高昂,而且解决不了边界安全问题。他们希望特朗普与共和党人先同意让政府重新开门,然后再讨论其它边境安全措施。 眼下因政府停摆,联邦雇员已经不得不靠食物救济度日,一年一度的国情咨文演讲也可能要被叫停。尽管特朗普声称他并不介意政府关门持续上几年,但事实是留给国会两党继续对峙的时间已经不多了。 1 Members of Congress were supposed to spend this holiday-shortened week working in their districts. 2 But both chambers cancelled the year's first recess to hold votes on competing—and equally doomed—plans to reopen the government. 3 Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, will put forth Donald Trump's proposal: $5.7bn for his wall in exchange for giving some undocumented immigrants three years' protection from deportation. 4 The bill could probably pass the Republican-controlled Senate absent an inevitable Democratic filibuster, after which it would fail in the Democrat-run House. 5 Bills to reopen the government without wall funding put forth by Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, will meet the inverse fate. 6 Mr Trump has little room to manoeuvre; it was not only Democrats who received his offer poorly. 7 Ann Coulter, a right-wing talk-show host whose derisive tweets arguably sparked the shutdown, sneered, "Trump proposes amnesty!" Amnesty, Mr Trump reassured her, "will be used only on a much bigger deal."