Shutdown Expected To Drag Into Christmas As Standoff Deepens

WASHINGTON – The federal government was expected to remain partially shut down past Christmas as the standoff deepened Saturday over President Donald Trump’s demand for funds to build a border wall with Mexico. With Trump’s insistence on $5 billion for the wall and negotiations with Democrats in Congress far from a breakthrough, even a temporary measure to keep the government running while talks continued seemed out of reach until the Senate returned for a full session Thursday. From coast to coast, the first day of the shutdown played out in uneven ways.