Senate Democrat hopeful Trump’s shutdown offer ‘will allow us to immediately reopen gov’

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At least one Senate Democrat seems to be taking President Trump’s offer on immigration reform as a sign an end to the partial government shutdown may be near.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who won re-election last November in a state Trump carried by 42 points in 2016, said Saturday he’s looking forward to working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to “end this shameful shutdown.”

“I’m hopeful the President’s statement tonight will allow us to immediately reopen gov, put WVians back to work & start negotiating long-term immigration reform,” Manchin said in a tweet.

Trump, who campaigned vigorously for Manchin’s opponent, had proposed an immigration deal Saturday that would offer protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children and under Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from certain countries affected by conflict or natural disasters in exchange for $5.7 billion in funding for border security, including a 200-mile stretch of steel barrier at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump and congressional Democrats have been at a stalemate since December, when Trump scuttled a bipartisan deal on appropriations that did not include funding for a border wall. The partial government shutdown, which entered an unprecedented fifth week on Saturday, has had 800,000 federal employees without a paycheck while they are either furloughed or working jobs deemed essential.

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