Showdown looms over funding for Trump wall

UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump and White House officials pressed congressional Republicans yesterday to use the looming threat of a government shutdown to win funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border, a top priority for the administration as it nears the symbolic 100-day mark.

Trump wants funding to be included in a spending measure that would keep the government open past April 28, a determined effort that has prompted a possible standoff with lawmakers in both parties, who hope to avert a federal closure next weekend.

Trump’s push for fast action on his pledge to build the border wall is part of a mounting and, at times, tense scramble inside the administration to kick-start the president’s agenda, even if it risks dire political consequences. It follows weeks of frustration within the White House over inaction and stalemates on Capitol Hill over bigticket items such as health care and tax cuts. The timing promises a week of high drama on the Hill. The Senate returns Monday night (local time), and the House returns Tuesday from a two-week recess, leaving just three days when both chambers will be in session to wrangle out a funding agreement. Negotiators worked throughout the break, but thus far a deal has not been struck.

The wall, which experts say would cost US$21.6 billion (NZ$30.7b) and take 31⁄2 years to construct, has emerged as a crucial sticking point for the White House, with the president insisting privately and publicly that progress toward its funding and eventual construction must be showcased this week.

‘‘Congress is right to be nervous, but that’s Trump’s style to be aggressive, ambitious, right out of ‘The Art of the Deal,’ ‘‘ said William Bennett, a conservative commentator and close friend of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. ‘‘Everyone seems to be getting used to that and how Trump doesn’t want the half loaf but the whole loaf.’’

In a tweet yesterday, Trump elbowed Democrats who have resisted his call to include wall funding. He chastised them for not wanting ‘‘money from the budget going to the border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs’’ and gang activity, in his view.

Trump added that he would continue to ask Mexico to pay for the project. Meanwhile, he said, he will press Congress for funding ‘‘so we can get started early’’ on the ‘‘badly needed border wall.’’

It remained unclear yesterday whether moderates within the GOP could convince the White House to avoid a shutdown. Democrats have insisted that they will not vote for any spending bill that gives the White House money or flexibility to begin construction of a border barrier. They believe that the GOP will have to either abandon Trump’s demand or assume political responsibility if a shutdown occurs.