White House digs in on wall, risking shutdown
The White House pushed the federal government closer to the brink of a partial shutdown later this week, digging in on its demand for US$5 billion ($7.3b) to build a border wall as congressional Democrats stood firm against it.
“We will do whatever is necessary to build the border wall to stop this ongoing crisis of immigration,” said White House senior adviser Stephen Miller.
Asked if that meant having a government shutdown, he said: “If it comes to it, absolutely.”
Trump said last week he would be “proud” to have a shutdown to get Congress to approve a US$5 billion down payment to fulfill his campaign promise to build a wall on the US-Mexico border. But the President doesn’t have the votes from the Republican-controlled Congress to support funding for the wall at that level.
Democratic congressional leaders, Senator Chuck Schumer and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, have proposed no more than US$1.6 billion, as outlined in a bipartisan Senate bill. The money would not go for the wall but for fencing upgrades and other border security. Democrats also offered to simply keep funding at its current level, US$1.3 billion.
Showing no signs of budging, Schumer said that it was up to Trump to decide whether parts of the federal government shut down at midnight Friday (Saturday NZT) over his border wall, sending thousands of federal employees home without pay during the holidays. About one-quarter of the government would be affected, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks.
“He is not going to get the wall in any form,” Schumer said. “He shouldn’t use innocent workers as hostage for his temper tantrum.”