Pence on shutdown: ‘It’s going to take as long as it takes’

Vice President Pence said Saturday that the federal government shutdown is "going to take as long as it takes," as Democratic and Republican lawmakers search for a funding deal.

"We'll get this thing figured out in Washington," Pence told American service members on his trip to the Middle East for a multi-day tour, according to The New York Times.

"It's going to take as long as it takes," Pence added when speaking to reporters, according to the Times.

The Senate missed a midnight deadline to fund the government on Friday, as Democrats and Republicans dug in their heels over partisan calls to attach controversial legislation to the stopgap bill.

Republicans have sought to pin the shutdown on Democrats for insisting that a deal include a fix for young immigrants affected by President TrumpDonald John TrumpDems flip Wisconsin state Senate seat Sessions: 'We should be like Canada' in how we take in immigrants GOP rep: 'Sheet metal and garbage' everywhere in Haiti MORE's decision to rescind the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Republicans have noted that the deadline to secure a legislative fix for DACA recipients isn't until March 5, while Democrats have said it must be included in the funding bill.

"It's disappointing to every American that Democrats in the Senate would shut down the government when we have troops in harm's way," Pence said Saturday.

Most Senate Democrats and four Senate Republicans on Friday night rejected a House-passed stopgap bill to fund the government for four weeks as Congress hit the shutdown deadline.

While the military remains in active service during government shutdowns, Trump administration officials have emphasized that service members, including those serving in combat situations, will not be paid until the government reopens. 

“These soldiers deserve better,” Pence told reporters during a refueling stop on the way to Cairo, according to the Times.

The vice president will spend four days in the Middle East, where he will meet with leaders in Egypt, Israel and Jordan, just weeks after Trump made a controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.