The shutdown is now in its 34th day, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers left unpaid across the country and in US installations abroad - and the knock-on effects affecting millions more. The US Senate was scheduled to hold two votes Thursday on dueling proposals to reopen shuttered federal agencies, but both are expected to fail.
Though politically bruised by his battle with Pelosi, Trump stood firm on his demand for billions of dollars in funding for a wall on the border with Mexico as part of an overall budget package. "Very simply, without a Wall it all doesn't work," he tweeted at Pelosi.
"We will not Cave!" And yet Trump had capitulated hours earlier on the State of the Union. After initial threats to either deliver the speech at the Capitol despite Pelosi's rescinding of her invitation or deliver it elsewhere, the Republican president said he would honor her request to delay it.
"This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over," Trump wrote. As acrimony in Washington grew, lawmakers across the political spectrum were left searching in vain for an exit strategy for the longest-ever halt to federal operations, as furloughed government employees and contractors vented their fury on Capitol Hill.
Before the Senate are two bills: one would reopen the government and include the $5.7 billion in funding that Trump demands for his border wall, plus immigration policy changes. The other is a Democratic bid that would reopen government through February 8, allowing two weeks for negotiation over border security and immigration.