Trump’s demand for wall could upend funding bill
His threat hardens battle lines, risking federal shutdown
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s threat to shut down the federal government over his demand for border-wall funding could upend delicate negotiations on Capitol Hill to keep the government fully operating past September, further entrenching Democrats against what they see as an unpopular president scrambling to appeal to his base of supporters.
During a campaign rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, Trump leveled his latest threat about blocking new government funding if it doesn’t include money to start building a new barrier along the Mexico border.
“Build that wall,” he said. “Now, the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it. But believe me, if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall.”
Congressional Democrats are holding their ground in opposing Trump’s proposal. On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., repeated their objections to funding a wall and argued that Trump would be responsible if the government shuts down over the impasse.
“If the President pursues this path, against the wishes of both Republicans and Democrats, as well as the majority of the American people, he will be heading towards a government shutdown which nobody will like and which won’t accomplish anything,” Schumer said in a statement.
Most congressional Republicans are hoping to include border wall funding in any deal to keep the government open, and key conservative lawmakers have rallied to Trump’s side. But Trump on Tuesday escalated a conflict with Democrats that has been brewing for months, telling his supporters, “Let me be very clear to Democrats in Congress who oppose a border wall and stand in the way of border security: You are putting all of America’s safety at risk.”
The timing of Trump’s threat is significant. Current federal spending authority expires on Sept. 30, the end of the government’s fiscal year, and Congress must act by then to keep the government fully operating after that.
The shutdown threat is a response to the leverage granted to the minority party in the Senate. Spending legislation is subject to the same rules and procedures as any other law, and while Republicans control the House, Senate and White House, Democrats have enough votes in the Senate to filibuster any bill — giving them the power to make demands on what is or isn’t included in a funding package.
Trump has called for the end of the Senate filibuster in recent weeks, including at Tuesday’s rally. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., opposes such a move, and there appears to be no stomach among Senate Republicans to push the issue.
Capitol Hill aides took note on Tuesday that while Trump threatened to “close down our government” over the border wall issue, he stopped short of an explicit threat to veto any spending bill that did not include wall funding.
Lawmakers are scheduled to have only a dozen working days in September to hash out a deal, though they could agree to a temporary stopgap — known as a continuing resolution — ranging from a few days to several months to allow negotiations to continue.
Neither McConnell nor House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has weighed in on Trump’s remarks, but some prominent conservative lawmakers are urging Republicans to support the president.
While a border wall is quite popular among fervent Republicans, surveys show that the public at large is skeptical — a divide that has helped fuel the Democratic opposition.
Rasmussen Reports, a conservative-leaning firm, conducted an automated poll of likely U.S. voters late last month and found that a solid majority of Americans oppose building a border wall “to help stop illegal immigration,” with 37 percent supporting a wall versus 56 percent against.
Democrats uniformly slammed Trump’s remarks, with several calling the president’s speech “unhinged” on Twitter.
Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, called Trump’s threat the “polar opposite of leadership” and said the president should be held accountable if the government shuts down.
“Wasting tens of billions on a useless and immoral border wall is a nonstarter for Democrats, particularly at a time of such real need in our communities. Congress should use this funding to help American families — not fulfill campaign applause lines,” Lowey said Wednesday in a statement.