Democrats pass fund plan, but without wall

President Trump pledges to keep up fight for signature campaign promise

WASHINGTON - On their first day in the majority, House Democrats have passed a plan to reopen the government without funding US President Donald Trump's promised border wall.

The largely party-line votes on Thursday night came after Trump made a surprise appearance at the White House briefing room, pledging to keep up the fight for his signature campaign promise.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump and Senate Republicans should "take yes for an answer" and approve the border bill, which was virtually identical to a plan the Senate adopted on a voice vote last month.

"We're not doing a wall. Does anyone have any doubt that we're not doing a wall?" Pelosi told reporters at a news conference on Thursday night.

Pelosi, who was elected speaker earlier on Thursday, also took a shot a Trump, calling his proposal "a wall between reality and his constituents".

She also invited Trump to deliver his annual update to Congress on Jan 29.

Trump strode into the White House briefing room on Thursday, the 13th day of the partial government shutdown, and declared that "without a wall you cannot have border security". He then left without taking questions from reporters.

The appearance came hours after the new Congress convened, with Democrats taking majority control of the House and returning Pelosi to the speakership after eight years of GOP control. The Democratic legislation to reopen the government without funding the wall is going nowhere in the Senate, where Republicans want Trump's endorsement before voting on a funding package.

About 800,000 federal workers have been affected by the Dec 22 closure of about one-quarter of the federal government as Trump withheld his support for new funding until he secures $5 billion to start building the wall along the US-Mexico border that he promised during his campaign.

Such a wall, he has argued, is needed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs over the southwestern border. When he ran for president in 2016, he vowed Mexico would pay for the wall, which it has refused to do.

Asked if she would give Trump $1 for a wall to reopen the government, Pelosi said: "One dollar? Yeah, one dollar. The fact is a wall is an immorality. It's not who we are as a nation."

Polls show a majority of US citizens oppose the border wall.

Late on Thursday, the House passed two Democratic bills to immediately reopen government agencies for varying lengths of time, despite a White House veto threat. Earlier in the day, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, labeled the House effort "political theater, not productive lawmaking", even though the Senate last month approved identical legislation.

The Democratic package includes a bill to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security at current levels with $1.3 billion for border security, far less than Trump has said he wants through Feb 8 as bipartisan talks would continue. It was approved, 239-192.

Democrats also approved a separate measure to fund the departments of Agriculture, Interior, Housing and Urban Development and others closed by the partial shutdown, at levels Senate Republicans had largely agreed to last year. The bill, which would provide money through the end of the fiscal year Sept 30, was approved, 241-190, with several House Republicans joining Democrats.

The White House has rejected the Democratic package.

"Why not fully fund the Department of Homeland Security? Why doesn't the Pelosi bill do that?" said White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway.

Vice-President Mike Pence, who was on the Hill on Thursday to swear in new senators, took a hard line, telling Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson, "Bottom line, if there's no wall, there's no deal."

Trump has said the partial shutdown, which began Dec 22, will last "as long as it takes" to get the funding he wants.

Ap - Reuters - Xinhua