San Diego

Cabrillo National Monument Closes Amid Government Shutdown

The only national monument in San Diego was closed Saturday after the government partially shut down at midnight over funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall.

Cabrillo National Monument was closed “for the safety of visitors and park resources” because of a lack of funding from the federal government, a statement from the National Park Service said.

Cleveland National Forests will remain open and as accessible as possible, though some areas may be closed to visitors because many park rangers were furloughed due to the shutdown. About 8 in 10 employees of the National Park Service were furloughed.

During the shutdown, the National Park Service won't be monitoring its social media pages and websites won't be updated with current conditions.

About three-quarters of the government were funded when Congress approved an appropriation bill in September. The rest of the government was funded through Dec. 21 unless Congress approved a budget before midnight that day.

The Senate approved a bipartisan deal earlier in the week to keep the government open into February and provide $1.3 billion for border security projects, but not the wall. But as Trump faced criticism from conservatives for "caving" on a campaign promise, he pushed to House to approve a package temporarily financing the government but also setting aside $5.7 billion for the border wall.

With Trump's insistence on funding for the wall and negotiations with Democrats in Congress far from a breakthrough, even a temporary measure to keep the government running while talks continued seemed out of reach until the Senate returned for a full session Thursday.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report

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