Republican senator breaks ranks to savage Trump's government shutdown: ‘There is no good reason’

Hundreds of thousands of public workers and small businesses being 'held hostage to a political dispute', says Lisa Murkowski

A Republican senator has said US government workers are being “held hostage to a political dispute,” in the most outspoken criticism yet from within Donald Trump’s party of the federal shutdown.

Lisa Murkowski said there was “no good reason” for a deadlock that has left hundreds of thousands of public workers “suffering” without pay for three weeks as the president continues to demanding funding for a border wall.

Her comments came as eight House Republicans broke ranks to vote with Democrats to pass a spending bill that would reopen shuttered government departments without financing the wall.

Ms Murkowski has previously indicated she would back the bill, although it remains unlikely it will pass the Senate.

The Alaska senator said: “I continue to stress that there is no good reason for a shutdown. The reality is thousands of federal employees and contractors have no pay cheque in sight, small businesses that rely on them are suffering and there’s no reason they should be held hostage to a political dispute.

“It’s important that we continue the debate on how we address border security and address the president’s top priorities, but it’s possible to provide for security and to address the humanitarian crisis on our border, while still doing our jobs to keep the government fully functional.”

Ms Murkowski is one of three Republican senators who have publicly declared support for ending the shutdown without funding a $5.7bn (£4.5bn) wall on the southern US border.

But Mitch McConnell, majority leader in the Republican-controlled Senate, has refused to bring any bill to the floor unless Mr Trump is willing to sign it off.

On Wednesday the president walked out of talks at the White House after Democrats reiterated that they would not release funding for the wall, which was one of Mr Trump’s key 2016 election promises.

Before the meeting, Mr Trump suggested the government shutdown that has left 800,000 federal employees unpaid was a “blessing in disguise” for focussing attention on immigration.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told Fox News on Wednesday that Mr Trump was still considering a declaration of a national emergency to circumvent congress and redirect government funds towards the wall.

He has previously said he would be willing to prolong partial closure of six federal government departments for “months or even years”.

But there are signs that Republicans in congress are growing increasingly concerned about the effects of the shutdown.

On Wednesday eight House Republicans sided with Democrats to back a bill that would reopen agencies including the Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, and Small Business Administration.

The three senators who have signalling their willingness to break ranks all face battles to re-elected next year.