Trump grounds all Congressional air travel on gov’t planes amid shutdown spat

WASHINGTON (Sputnik): The president remains locked in conflict with Democrats in Congress over his request for $5.7 billion in border wall funding. The dispute led to an impasse and the ongoing partial government shutdown – it is now the longest in US history.

The Trump administration has barred US lawmakers from traveling on any government-owned and operated aircraft without explicit written approval from the White House chief of staff.

ABC News tweeted a copy of the memo, which was released by Office of Management and Budget acting director Russell T. Vought.

Earlier, President Trump took to Twitter, attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats for trying to take “a seven day excursion” abroad while 800,000 federal employees go unpaid due to the shutdown.

The tweet comes a day after Trump denied Pelosi the use of a military plane for a trip abroad after she demanded that he delay his State of the Union address.

“Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed,” Trump said in a curt letter. “I also feel that, during this period, it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the Shutdown,” Trump added.

Also on Friday, Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Congresswoman Pelosi, said that in addition to blocking use of the military plane, the White House had also leaked the delegation’s plans to fly commercially, thus scuttling the trip.

“This morning, we learned that the Administration had leaked the commercial travel plans as well…In light of the grave threats caused by the President’s action, the delegation has decided to postpone the trip so as not to further endanger our troops and security personnel, or the other travelers on the flights,” Hammill said.

Trump and the Democrats in Congress remain deadlocked over the proposed border wall on the US-Mexico border, with the president demanding $5.7 billion for the barrier and his opponents proposing smaller funding commitments, which the president rejected.

The dispute has led to what is now the longest government shutdown in US history, with 800,000 federal workers either working without pay or furloughed since 22 December.

Numerous departments and agencies, including Homeland Security, Transportation, Justice, Commerce, State, Agriculture, Interior, the Treasury, Housing & Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and others have been affected.

Trump and the Democrats have blamed each other’s stubbornness for the crisis.

The construction of the border wall was one of Trump’s key campaign promises during the 2016 election.