The White House says U-S President Donald Trump will not accept a short-term deal to reopen the government -- unless it includes "a large down payment'' for his promised border wall.
On Thursday, the Senate rejected competing Democratic and Republican proposals for ending the 34-day partial government shutdown, which is the longest in U-S history.
Meantime, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross suggested unpaid federal workers just get a loan to pay their bills, leading some to say he's out of touch with the pain workers are feeling.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says the comments reveal the administration's ''callous indifference'' toward people it's treating as ''pawns.''
Trump and his team have struggled to strike an empathetic tone for federal employees caught up in the fallout.
- With files from CTV NEWS