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New US Congress Grapples with Government Shutdown

by Michael Bowman

   CAPITOL HILL --

   A new, politically divided U.S. Congress is being sworn in and
   confronts an immediate task: ending a partial government shutdown that
   is nearing the two-week mark.

   A day of pageantry on Capitol Hill as Democrats take control of the
   House of Representatives and Republicans see their Senate majority
   bolstered.
   House Democrats have pledged to pass a spending bill that includes
   border security funding, but omits money for wall construction along
   the U.S.-Mexico border, as demanded by President Donald Trump.