WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump planned to speak about the government shutdown on Friday as intensifying delays at the nation's airports and widespread disruptions brought new urgency to efforts to resolve the 35-day impasse.
The event comes amid growing speculation that lawmakers and the White House are on the verge of reaching a deal to end the five-week impasse. Trump was to speak at 1:30 p.m., Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Overnight and into Friday at least five Republican senators had been calling Trump, urging him to reopen the government and have the Senate consider his request for border wall funds through regular legislation, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to discuss the private talks publicly.
The burst of movement came as LaGuardia Airport in New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were both experiencing at least 90-minute delays in takeoffs Friday.
The world's busiest airport -- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport -- was experiencing long security wait times, a warning sign the week before it expects 150,000 out-of-town visitors for the Super Bowl.
Trump and the Democrats in Congress remained at odds over his demand that any compromise include money for his coveted border wall.
The standoff has become so severe that, as the Senate opened with prayer, Chaplain Barry Black called on high powers in the "hour of national turmoil" to help senators do "what is right."
Senators were talking with increased urgency after Thursday's defeat of competing proposals from Trump and the Democrats. The bipartisan talks provided a glimmer of hope that some agreement could be reached to temporarily halt the longest-ever closure of federal agencies.
"There are discussions on the Senate side. We are in touch with them," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Friday morning as she entered the Capitol. Asked about Trump's demands for border security measures as part of a bill temporarily reopening government, Pelosi said, "we'll see what happens today. One step at a time."
Pelosi was referring to a Thursday meeting between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to explore potential next steps for solving the vitriolic stalemate.
Pressure is building among both parties to reopen agencies immediately and pay hundreds of thousands of beleaguered federal workers while bargainers hunt for a deal.
Monday is the start of federal tax filing season. But fewer than half of the furloughed IRS employees recalled during the shutdown to handle tax returns and send out refunds reported for work as of Tuesday, according to congressional and government aides. The employees had been told to work without pay.
Trump says any short-term deal to end the shutdown must include a large down-payment for a border wall -- an idea Pelosi and Schumer immediately rejected.
The Democrats were waiting Friday to hear back from McConnell about his discussions with the White House, according to a Senate Democratic aide who was not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.
Meanwhile, the toll of the shutdown was being felt at airports across the countries. The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday reported delays in air travel because of a "slight increase in sick leave" at two East Coast air traffic control facilities. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump has been briefed on the airport delays and was monitoring the situation.
At the White House Thursday, Trump told reporters he'd support "a reasonable agreement" to reopen the government. He suggested he'd also want a "prorated down payment" for his long-sought border wall with Mexico but didn't describe the term. He said he has "other alternatives" for getting wall funding, an apparent reference to his disputed claim that he could declare a national emergency and fund the wall's construction using other programs in the federal budget.
On Friday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders didn't offer much clarity.
"I'm not going to negotiate in the press, but we've laid out a proposal of not what we want, but what the people and the professionals at the border say that they need to do their jobs," Sander said. "And that's what the president wants to see happen. And we are going to work to get there one way or another."
Even so, it was unclear whether the flurry would produce results.
"At least we're talking about it. That's better than it was before," McConnell told reporters in one of the most encouraging statements heard since the shutdown began Dec. 22. McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said Friday that it is still up for Pelosi and Trump to take the lead, even as a clamour is growing in the Senate for McConnell and Schumer to grab the reins.
Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman said Democrats have made clear that "they will not support funding for the wall, prorated or otherwise."
Contributing to the pressure on lawmakers to find a solution was the harsh reality confronting 800,000 federal workers, who on Friday face a second two-week payday with no paychecks.
In an embarrassment to Trump, the Democratic proposal got two more votes Thursday than the GOP plan, even though Republicans control the chamber 53-47. Six Republicans backed the Democratic plan, including freshman Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who's clashed periodically with the president.
The Senate first rejected a Republican plan reopening the government through September and giving Trump the $5.7 billion he's demanded for building segments of that wall, a project that he'd long promised Mexico would finance. The 50-47 vote for the measure fell 10 shy of the 60 votes needed to succeed.
Minutes later, senators voted 52-44 for a Democratic alternative that sought to open padlocked agencies through Feb. 8 with no wall money. That was eight votes short. It was aimed at giving bargainers time to seek an accord while getting paychecks to government workers who are either working without pay or being forced to stay home.
Thursday's votes came after Vice-President Mike Pence lunched privately with restive GOP senators, who told him they were itching for the standoff to end, participants said. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said their message to Pence was, "Find a way forward."
Flustered lawmakers said Thursday's roll calls could be a reality check that would prod the start of talks. Throughout, the two sides have issued mutually exclusive demands that have blocked negotiations from even starting: Trump has refused to reopen government until Congress gives him the wall money, and congressional Democrats have rejected bargaining until he reopens government.
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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this story from Washington.
