US President Donald Trump bitterly attacked top Democrat Nancy Pelosi on Sunday and she again insisted that he end the government shutdown before border security talks can begin, but there were hints of possible movement. Trump lashed out on Twitter a day after Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, dismissed as a “non-starter” his offer to extend temporary protection to about a million immigrants in return for $5.7 billion for the wall he wants on the Mexican border to fulfill a signature campaign promise. Government shutdowns are a disruptive political ritual that have occurred in various administrations and are almost unique to the American system. But this one is the longest on record. It has left about 800,000 federal workers unpaid — among them airport security officers, FBI agents, museum workers, and Coast Guard members. “Nancy Pelosi has behaved so irrationally & has gone so far to the left that she has now officially become a Radical Democrat,” the president tweeted. “She is so petrified of the ‘lefties’ in her party that she has lost control.” Government shutdowns are a disruptive political ritual that have occurred in various administrations and are almost unique to the American system It was Trump’s most direct attack on Pelosi since the partial government shutdown began, and appeared to reflect a mounting sense of frustration. Pointedly ignoring his personal comments, Pelosi on Twitter emphasized the need to end the impasse, which has inflicted increasing pain after one month, with some government employees having to turn to food banks or local charities to get by. “Reopen the government, let workers get their paychecks and then we can discuss how we can come together to protect the border. #EndTheShutdown,” she tweeted. ‘Good-faith compromise’ While Pelosi and other Democrats dismissed Trump’s offer, Republicans insisted that it represented actual movement by the president. Vice President Mike Pence, who has been leading the administration’s contacts with Congress, said the Senate would put the proposal to a vote as early as Tuesday. He called it “a good-faith compromise.” The planned vote also reflects a shift by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. He insisted previously that he would not take up any shutdown bill unless both Trump and Democratic leaders backed it. “In a very real sense, what President Trump did here was he set the table for a deal,” Pence said on “Fox News Sunday.” The bill’s fate was far from clear. Republicans hope to lure the votes of a few Democrats from Trump-friendly states to reach the 60 votes needed, but they may lose some hard-line conservatives in the process. Published in Daily Times, January 22nd 2019.