Democrats Respond to br Trump's Oval Office Speech House Speaker Nancy Pelosi br and Senate Minority Leader br Chuck Schumer led the response. They called out br the president for br choosing "fear" over "facts" and urged him to br "end this shutdown." The U.S. government br has been under a partial br shutdown for almost three weeks. Pelosi called Trump's focus br on the border wall an "obsession." She referred to the br shutdown as Trump holding br critical services and the br American people "hostage." Schumer stated that the br shutdown and the border br security should be treated br as two separate issues.