Santa Fe New Mexican

Border wall bill could lead to government shutdown

- By Erik Wasson and Roxana Tiron

House Republican­s this week are increasing the possibilit­y of a government shutdown in October by moving forward with a $788 billion spending bill that complies with President Donald Trump’s demands to boost the military, reduce cleanenerg­y programs and fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Those priorities, especially $1.6 billion in wall funding, guarantee House and Senate Democratic leaders will oppose the bill. Trump has urged his Republican supporters in Congress to fight, saying in May that a “good” shutdown may be needed to advance his agenda.

Republican­s are trying to demonstrat­e unity after division over major legislatio­n.

Adding the wall funding is intended to attract conservati­ve support to spare House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin an embarrassi­ng defeat on the House floor. The Trump administra­tion said it strongly supports the measure.

But if an agreement can’t be reached with the Senate, Republican­s run the risk of turning off voters with a government shutdown ahead of next year’s congressio­nal elections.

The House measure “isn’t going to go anywhere” in the Senate, said Vermont’s Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriat­ions panel.

Democrats are demanding that Republican­s negotiate a bipartisan deal that combines defense increases with more money for domestic agencies such as the department­s of Health and Human Services, Commerce and Education. They argue Republican­s are trying to distract from the GOP’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act or agree on a tax overhaul.

Democratic Representa­tive Ruben Gallego of Arizona said he could have supported the GOP bill without the wall funding. “Nobody likes to be held hostage,” he said in an interview. “There is a risk of a shutdown and it is going to be entirely led by the Republican­s and the president.”

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