‘WASTING TIME’
Prez tweets lawmakers need to talk wall or barrier
WASHINGTON — Capitol Hill negotiators are hopeful of an agreement as they officially kick off talks Wednesday on a homeland security spending bill stalled over funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.
Left on their own, the seasoned House and Senate lawmakers say they could easily reach a border security deal as they have for two years in a row. But whether Trump would sign it is another matter altogether.
Trump tweeted Wednes- day morning, hours before the negotiators were to sit down for their first meeting, that the group of Republicans and Democrats is “Wasting their time!” if they aren’t “discussing or contemplating a Wall or Physical Barrier.”
“He tweets and all you guys do is spend your whole day following up on his tweets,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. “In any event, our answer is the same. We’re in negotiations. These I think are going to be good faith negotiations. And we want to reach an agreement. We want to make sure the government doesn’t shut down again.”
Democrats remain united against Trump’s vision for a massive wall project, yet some are signalling a willingness to deal in the wake of the shutdown.
“We’ve consistently said that we do not support a medieval border wall from sea to shining sea,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “However, we are able to support fencing where is makes sense, but it should be done in an evidence-based fashion.”
For their part, GOP leaders want to de-escalate the battle over the border wall and suggest they too could be flexible as bargainers, who held their first session Wednesday, seek a biparti- san agreement.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned the president against triggering another shutdown or declaring a national emergency on the Southwest boundary, a move that could let him redirect budget funds.
When asked to describe a border security agreement he’d support, McConnell said, “I’m for whatever works that would prevent the level of dysfunction we’ve seen on full display here the last month and also doesn’t bring about a view on the president’s part that he needs to declare a national emergency.”