GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN | Trump rejects short-term fix

10:56 a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday rejected the suggestion that he temporarily reopen government while negotiations continue on his proposed border wall, signaling no speedy resolution to the partial government shutdown now into a fourth week.

Leaving the White House for a trip to New Orleans, Trump said he had dismissed the proposal from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to reopen for several weeks and continue dealing with Democrats over Trump’s long-promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I did reject it, yes,” Trump said. “I’m not interested. I want to get it solved. I don’t want to just delay it.”

Trump also backed further away from the idea of declaring a national emergency as an escape hatch, saying: “I’m not looking to call a national emergency. This is so simple we shouldn’t have to.”

As Congress returned to Washington for their second week of legislative business since House control reverted to Democrats, the shutdown hit Day 24, affecting federal workers and services with no end in sight. Trump has demanded $5.7 billion for his long-promised wall, while Democrats, who oppose the wall as both immoral and wasteful, insist Trump re-open the government before they negotiate border security.

From the White House, Trump argued that he alone was ready to negotiate, noting that a group of House and Senate Democrats were touring hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.

“A lot of the Democrats were in Puerto Rico celebrating something. I don’t know, maybe they’re celebrating the shutdown,” Trump said.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were not on the trip to Puerto Rico. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted Monday: “Speaker Pelosi has been in DC all weekend working from the Capitol.”

Trump also targeted Pelosi and Schumer on Twitter, arguing that the shutdown “has become their, and the Democrats, fault!” But Trump weeks ago asserted that he would “own” the shutdown and polls show that he is taking most of the blame.

10:40 a.m.

ATLANTA (AP) — It was taking more than an hour for passengers to get through domestic checkpoints at the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta on Monday, the first business day after security screeners missed paychecks for the first time due to partial government shutdown.

No-shows among screeners across the nation soared Monday morning, with a national rate of 7.6 unscheduled absences Monday morning, a Transportation Security Administration spokesman said. That compares to 3.2 percent for this time one year ago, TSA spokesman Thomas Kelly said in a statement to The Associated Press.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport reported the lengthy wait times on its website Monday morning, showing the long waits at all three checkpoints in the domestic terminal.

Callers to the Transportation Security Administration’s media relations line Monday heard a recorded message saying employees were unable to answer phone calls due to a lapse in federal funding.

Atlanta’s wait times stretched well beyond what the TSA says most passengers have endured since the shutdown began. The recorded message said that 99.9 percent of passengers nationally waited less than 30 minutes to get through security on Friday, and 95 percent waited less than 15 minutes.

The message adds that security standards “remain uncompromised” at the nation’s airports.

Still, airports are having to make adjustments. Miami International Airport closed one of its terminals for part of Saturday and Sunday because many TSA workers as usual were calling in sick.