| President Trump will deliver his first prime-time address from the Oval Office tonight amid a partial government shutdown provoked by his demand that Congress allocate $5.7 billion for a wall along the southern border. Democrats, who control the House and have repeatedly rejected the president’s funding demand, asked networks for equal airtime to counter the president’s speech. On Thursday, Trump will travel to a spot along the U.S.-Mexico divide, where he’ll repeat his belief that conditions there represent a “humanitarian and national security crisis” that require immediate attention. The president is turning to the bully pulpit, as Republicans grow increasingly worried that they’ll bear the blame for the shutdown, which is entering its 18th day. The longest-ever federal appropriations lapse extended 21 days, beginning in 1995 and ending in 1996. The Hill: Trump to address nation on wall. Here’s the latest as Washington seeks a way out… The White House The president’s use of the term “national security crisis” is intentional. 
© Twitter The White House has been discussing how it could circumvent Congress and direct money toward the wall. One option being considered is to declare a national emergency at the border, although that’s legally questionable and would be challenged in court. The New York Times: Primer on the powers triggered through a presidential declaration of national emergency. “As a matter of legal procedure, facts [to support an emergency] may be irrelevant.” The Atlantic: What the president could do if he declares a state of emergency. “Entirely within his discretion, more than 100 special provisions become available to him.”
Brennan Center for Justice: A guide to emergency powers and their use, and the center’s list of 58 national emergencies declared from 1978-2018 under the National Emergencies Act. The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democrats believe they have the president cornered because of the public’s rising impatience with the impasse. The House has already passed legislation that fully funds the government, although the GOP-controlled Senate has refused to take it up because it didn’t have additional funds for a wall. This week, Pelosi envisions taking a piecemeal approach — putting up a series of noncontroversial bills that would individually fund the agencies impacted by the shutdown. The votes are intended to raise the temperature under Trump and Senate Republicans to budge or come up with a solution. The Hill: Pelosi cranks up shutdown pressure on Trump, GOP The Senate Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has so far remained steadfast in his demand that the House send the Senate a spending bill that includes additional money for the wall. But the number of GOP senators in his caucus urging a vote to fund the government is growing, an indication that vulnerable lawmakers up for reelection are feeling the heat. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have a plan to try to strong-arm Republicans into a vote to end the partial shutdown. Senate Democrats are saying they’ll create paralysis by filibustering everything unless there’s a vote on the House-passed spending package. There are 47 Democrats in the Senate and they’d only need 40 to unite to gum up the works in the upper chamber. The Hill: Democrats have a plan to jam up Senate over shutdown fight. The agencies The pain is about to become real. If there’s no deal reached by midnight tonight, federal employees will miss their next paychecks, which are due on Friday. The effects are being felt everywhere from the U.S. Coast Guard, to airports and national parks, as well as across from the U.S. Capitol at the Supreme Court. The Memo: Absent paychecks may put Trump in a bind. The Hill: Shutdown’s impact shows signs of growing. The Hill: Government shutdown closes in on high court. The White House appears to have averted one shutdown-related crisis, saying that the IRS will issue tax refunds, irrespective of whether the Treasury Department and IRS are fully funded when tax filings pile up (The Hill). | 
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