Trump heads to TV, border as fed workers face paycheck sting

In this Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, photo visitors to Great Smoky Mountain National Park drive through the park but facilities like the Sugarlands and Cades Cove visitor centers in Townsend, Tenn. Nonprofits, businesses and state governments nationwide are putting up money and volunteer hours in a battle to keep national parks safe and clean for visitors as the partial U.S. government shutdown lingers. (Robert Berlin/The Daily Times via AP)
In this Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, photo visitors to Great Smoky Mountain National Park drive through the park but facilities like the Sugarlands and Cades Cove visitor centers in Townsend, Tenn. Nonprofits, businesses and state governments nationwide are putting up money and volunteer hours in a battle to keep national parks safe and clean for visitors as the partial U.S. government shutdown lingers. (Robert Berlin/The Daily Times via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) - With no breakthrough in sight, President Donald Trump will argue his case to the nation Tuesday night that a "crisis" at the U.S.-Mexico border requires the long and invulnerable wall he's demanding before ending the partial government shutdown. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers face missed paychecks Friday as the shutdown drags through a third week.

Trump's Oval Office speech - his first as president - will be followed by his visit Thursday to the southern border to highlight his demand for a barrier. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted he will use the visit to "meet with those on the front lines of the national security and humanitarian crisis."

The administration is also at least talking about the idea of declaring a national emergency to allow Trump to move forward on the wall without Congress approving the $5.6 billion he wants. Vice President Mike Pence said the White House counsel's office is looking at the idea. Such a move would certainly draw legal challenges, and Trump - who told lawmakers he would be willing to keep the government closed for months or even years - has said he would like to continue negotiations for now.

As Trump's prime-time address and his border visit were announced, newly empowered House Democrats - and at least a few Republican senators - stepped up pressure on GOP lawmakers to reopen the government without giving in to the president's demands. The closure, which has lasted 17 days, is already the second-longest in history and would become the longest this weekend.

Leaning on Senate Republicans, some of whom are growing anxious about the impact of the shutdown, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would begin passing individual bills this week that would reopen federal agencies, starting with the Treasury Department to ensure Americans receive their tax refunds.

There were other signs the administration was working to control the damage from the shutdown, which has furloughed 380,000 federal workers and forced another 420,000 to work without pay. The National Park Service said it was dipping into entrance fees to pay for staffing at some highly visited parks to maintain restrooms, clean up trash and patrol the grounds, after reports of human waste and garbage overflowing in some spots.

Over the weekend, the federal agency tasked with guaranteeing U.S. airport security acknowledged an increase in the number of its employees missing work or calling in sick.

However, Trump and the Transportation Security Administration pushed back on any suggestion the call-outs at the agency represented a "sickout" that was having a significant effect on U.S. air travel. TSA said it screened more than 2.2 million passengers Sunday, a historically busy day due to holiday travel. Ninety percent waited less than 15 minutes, the agency said.

"We are grateful to the more than 51,000 agents across the country who remain focused on the mission and are respectful to the traveling public," TSA spokesman Michael Bilello said.

The talks over ending the shutdown have been at an impasse over Trump's demand for the wall. He has offered to build the barrier with steel rather than concrete, billing that as a concession to Democrats' objections. They "don't like concrete, so we'll give them steel," he said.

However, Democrats have made clear they object to the wall itself, not how it's constructed. They see it as immoral and ineffective and prefer other types of border security funded at already agreed-upon levels.

"Maybe he thinks he can bully us. But I'm from Brooklyn. You let a bully succeed, you'll be bullied again worse," Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said at a breakfast with the Association for a Better New York.

At the White House, spokeswoman Mercedes Schlapp complained Democratic leaders have yet to define what they mean when they say they are for enhancing border security.

"Democrats want to secure the border? Great. Come to the table," she said Monday. "We are willing to come to a deal to reopen the government."

Trump has tasked Pence during the shutdown fight to negotiate with Democrats, including during talks over the weekend with Democratic staffers. However, the vice president is increasingly being called upon to prevent defections in the GOP ranks.

Asked whether cracks were forming between the White House and Republicans eager for the shutdown to end, Pence told reporters, "We've been in touch with those members and others."

He and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen would be at the Capitol on Tuesday and Wednesday to brief lawmakers.

Among the Republicans expressing concern was Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should take up funding bills from the Democratic-led House.

"Let's get those reopened while the negotiations continue," Collins said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

However, McConnell has said he won't take up funding bills without Trump's support.