Washington (CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a move by Senate Democrats on Thursday to get the chamber to vote on spending bills to reopen the government on day 20 of the ongoing partial shutdown. In a back-and-forth on the Senate floor, Senate Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, on Thursday called for the Senate to take up legislation advanced by House Democrats to reopen shuttered parts of the federal government and argued that parts of the federal government not related to the border wall should be re-opened immediately as negotiations continue over the border wall, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell objected to the move, saying that "political stunts are not going to get us anywhere." McConnell has made clear that he won't take up any legislation related to the shutdown in the Senate that President Donald Trump won't sign. And the President has dug in in his refusal to sign legislation that does not meet his demand for roughly $5 billion for a border wall, which Democrats refuse to provide. McConnell instead blamed Democrats for the impasse, saying that the shutdown has been "prolonged by my Democratic colleagues' refusal to even come to the table."

Source: CNN January 10, 2019 16:56 UTC