Trump Balks at Approving Funding to Avert Shutdown Without Border Wall Money
By Ken Bredemeier December 20, 2018
President Donald Trump is not going to sign legislation to avert a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday because it does not include money for the wall he wants built along the U.S.-Mexican border to thwart illegal immigration, top Republican congressional leaders said Thursday.
The president has "very serious concerns about border security," House Speaker Paul Ryan said as he emerged Thursday afternoon from a White House meeting with Trump.
Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House majority leader, said Trump believes that to sign off on a Senate-approved temporary funding measure that keeps the full government operating through Feb. 8, but does not include border wall funding, would be tantamount to "just kicking the can down the road" in the debate over the barrier.
The lawmakers said they would try to accede to the president's demands to add border wall funding in the House of Representatives version of the stopgap funding legislation. But Democrats are adamantly opposed to the $5-billion down payment on the $20 billion wall that Trump contends would thwart illegal immigration, and some Republicans are opposed as well.
The White House meeting occurred after Trump press secretary Sarah Sanders announced, "At this moment, the president does not want to go further without border security, which includes steel slats or a wall. The president is continuing to weigh his options."
The U.S. leader unexpectedly summoned Ryan, McCarthy and other key Republican lawmakers for talks about the wall and the temporary spending measure needed to keep about a quarter of government operations from shutting down when current funding expires Friday, just ahead of the Christmas holiday next week. The remainder of the government is funded through next September.
Trump has voiced increasing frustration that Congress has refused his quest for the $5 billion in wall money. Construction of the wall was a popular rallying cry at Trump campaign events during his successful 2016 run for the White House.
But until midday Thursday he had not disclosed his intentions on the temporary spending package to avert a closure that would furlough about 800,000 federal workers and curtail some government services. The Senate late Wednesday approved the stopgap funding and the House was set to vote on it Thursday.
But the outcome of a House vote grew more uncertain as staunch conservatives took to the airwaves to call on Trump to reject any spending plan that does not include funding for the wall.
The dispute is occurring in the last days of Republican control of both houses of Congress, which Republicans think is their last best chance of securing money for the wall that would extend over much of the 3,200-kilometer U.S.-Mexican border.
Democrats picked up 40 seats in the 435-member House of Representatives in the November elections and are set assume control in early January, making Trump's challenge even greater at that point to secure wall funding. Republicans will maintain their edge in the Senate.
Before the meeting at the White House, Trump blamed opposition Democrats for congressional failure to approve the wall.
"The Democrats, who know Steel Slats [Wall] are necessary for Border Security, are putting politics over Country," he said on Twitter. "What they are just beginning to realize is that I will not sign any of their legislation, including infrastructure, unless it has perfect Border Security. U.S.A. WINS!"
Trump also praised U.S. law enforcement efforts aimed at blocking illegal migration into the U.S.
"With so much talk about the Wall, people are losing sight of the great job being done on our Southern Border by Border Patrol, (the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency) and our great Military. Remember the Caravans? Well, they didn't get through and none are forming or on their way. Border is tight. Fake News silent!"
Trump, after vowing during the campaign two years ago to make Mexico pay for the wall, has unsuccessfully sought congressional approval for U.S. taxpayer funding for the wall. But with uniform Democratic opposition and scattered Republican opposition as well, Trump has not collected enough votes to win approval for the wall.
Trump last week said he would "proudly" accept responsibility for a shutdown in a fight over the border wall.
But then this week, the White House seemed to retreat on the demand for the $5 billion in funding, saying it would try to tap unused funds in various government agencies to build the wall, although Congress typically spells out exactly what funding is supposed to pay for.
Nonetheless, Trump tweeted, "One way or the other, we will win on the Wall!"
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