Trump bats for Mexico wall funding as fight looms over govt shutdown
President Donald Trump may end up marking his 100th day in office with a federal government shutdown if negotiations underway on a spending bill fail, over funding for a wall along the border with Mexico, his signature campaign promise.
And he is standing his ground, for now at least. “The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)!” the president wrote on Twitter Monday.
The Trump administration is also seeking a massive budgetary allocation for defence, another poll promise. With an eye on the 100-day mark, Trump is expected to announce his ambitious tax overhaul plan on Wednesday. He is also pushing Republicans to try one more time to pass a legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare despite the failed first attempt, which Trump has said was only the start to the negotiating process and not final attempt.
The two chambers of congress, which resume work this week after a two-week recess, have until Friday to thrash out a new spending bill for the president’s signature to keep the federal government funded for another year.
Failure to come up with one will not lead to a shutdown necessarily — they can keep the government funded through a shortterm interim bill — and keep negotiating till a legislation all parties can agree on is arrived at.
The last government shutdown was in 2013.
The real sticking point this time is Trump’s wall, which is likely to cost the US an estimated $21.6 billion if Mexico refuses to pay for it as it has vowed to. The president indicated in a Sunday tweet the US will have to pay, for now. “The Democrats don’t want money from budget going to border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs and very bad MS 13 gang members,” he wrote, adding, “Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying…”
The administration is rushing to line up achievements for the president to talk about as he completes 100 days on Saturday, a watershed he appeared to both dismiss and acknowledge, depending perhaps on the way he sees his young presidency seems to be going.
Trump is scheduled to talk about his achievements at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, the day after the federal government runs out of funding if negotiations fail, and the White House has already started rolling out what looks like a list of the highlights. But Democrats are in no mood to give in. “The burden to keep (the government) open is on the Republicans … building a wall is not an answer. Not here or any place,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said.