Facing a midnight deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump said Friday a closure could drag on “for a very long time” and he tried to lay blame on congressional Democrats if there’s no deal over his demand for U.S.-Mexico border wall money.
Trump’s tweet came ahead of a meeting with Senate Republicans to discuss the budget deal and border security. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to answer questions as he left the Capitol with other GOP senators on their way to the White House.
Only a week ago, Trump said he would be “proud” to shut down the government, which Republicans control, in the name of border security. “I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down,” he asserted.
But with the hours dwindling before the midnight deadline, Trump sought to reframe the debate and make Democrats the holdouts to settling an impasse that threatens hundreds of thousands of federal workers on the eve of the end-of-the-year holidays.
Senator Mitch McConnell should fight for the Wall and Border Security as hard as he fought for anything. He will need Democrat votes, but as shown in the House, good things happen. If enough Dems don’t vote, it will be a Democrat Shutdown! House Republicans were great yesterday!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
And he exhorted McConnell to corral enough Democratic votes to send a House-passed plan to the White House, even though the measure is almost certain to be rejected in the Senate.
“Senator Mitch McConnell should fight for the Wall and Border Security as hard as he fought for anything. He will need Democrat votes, but as shown in the House, good things happen. If enough Dems don’t vote, it will be a Democrat Shutdown!” Trump tweeted.
Later in the morning, not even waiting for a Senate vote, Trump tweeted that “the Democrats now own the shutdown!”
The Democrats are trying to belittle the concept of a Wall, calling it old fashioned. The fact is there is nothing else’s that will work, and that has been true for thousands of years. It’s like the wheel, there is nothing better. I know tech better than anyone, & technology…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
…..on a Border is only effective in conjunction with a Wall. Properly designed and built Walls work, and the Democrats are lying when they say they don’t. In Israel the Wall is 99.9% successful. Will not be any different on our Southern Border! Hundreds of $Billions saved!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
Trump also encouraged McConnell, R-Ky., to change Senate rules in order to pass the spending bill, by lowering the threshold for ending debate on legislation from 60 votes to 51, as it currently stands for judicial appointments in the Senate, where Republicans hold a slim majority.
“Mitch, use the Nuclear Option and get it done! Our Country is counting on you!,” Trump tweeted, though McConnell has previously resisted the rules change.
The Senate has been called back into session to consider the package approved by House Republicans late Thursday, which includes the $5.7 billion Trump wants for the border with Mexico.
The Democrats, whose votes we need in the Senate, will probably vote against Border Security and the Wall even though they know it is DESPERATELY NEEDED. If the Dems vote no, there will be a shutdown that will last for a very long time. People don’t want Open Borders and Crime!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
Senators had passed their own bipartisan bill earlier in the week to keep the government running, with border security at existing levels, $1.3 billion, but no money for the wall. Both bills would extend government funding through Feb. 8.
The White House said Trump would not go to Florida on Friday as planned for the Christmas holiday if the government were shutting down.
Even President Ronald Reagan tried for 8 years to build a Border Wall, or Fence, and was unable to do so. Others also have tried. We will get it done, one way or the other!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
More than 800,000 federal workers will be facing furloughs or forced to work without pay if a resolution is not reached before funding expires at midnight Friday.
At issue is funding for nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks and forests.
Many agencies, including the Pentagon and the departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services, are funded for the year and would continue to operate as usual. The U.S. Postal Service, busy delivering packages for the holiday season, would not be affected by any government shutdown because it’s an independent agency.
The shutdown crisis could be one of the final acts of the House GOP majority before relinquishing control to Democrats in January.
Mitch, use the Nuclear Option and get it done! Our Country is counting on you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
Shutdown today if Democrats do not vote for Border Security!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
Congress had been on track to fund the government but lurched when Trump, after a rare lashing from conservative supporters, declared Thursday he would not sign a bill without the funding. Conservatives want to keep fighting. They warn that “caving” on Trump’s repeated wall promises could hurt his 2020 re-election chances, and those of other Republicans’as well.
The GOP-led House voted largely along party lines, 217-185, to attach the border wall money to the Senate’s bill. House Republicans also tacked on nearly $8 billion in disaster aid for coastal hurricanes and California wildfires.
Some Republican senators cheered on the House, but prospects in the Senate are grim amid strong opposition from Democrats.
One possibility is that the Senate strips the border wall out of the bill but keeps the disaster funds and sends it back to the House. House lawmakers said they were being told to stay in town for more possible votes.
No matter what happens today in the Senate, Republican House Members should be very proud of themselves. They flew back to Washington from all parts of the World in order to vote for Border Security and the Wall. Not one Democrat voted yes, and we won big. I am very proud of you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
Thank you @SteveDaines for being willing to go with the so-called nuclear option in order to win on DESPERATELY NEEDED Border Security! Have my total support.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
The Democrats now own the shutdown!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
Soon to be Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, last week live from the Oval Office, that the Republicans didn’t have the votes for Border Security. Today the House Republicans voted and won, 217-185. Nancy does not have to apologize. All I want is GREAT BORDER SECURITY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
Democrats, it is time to come together and put the SAFETY of the AMERICAN PEOPLE before POLITICS. Border security must become a #1 priority! pic.twitter.com/Wck6UpQGil
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018
(AP)
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6 Responses
He barely has majority support from his own party, not to mention the fact that no Democrat will support him on this (though one needs to recall that then the Democrats proposed a similar wall in the past, they got strong support especially from labor union who don’t want inexpensive workers moving to the US – and back then most Republicans opposed strict immigration since the business community like low cost labor).
As is his style, he is probably bluffing and will settle for slightly more border security than he was getting, but that’s all.
It is time to excercise the 25th amendment.
BUILD THE WALL.
The president was elected in great part on this issue. Those Senators who will vote against it should be named and called out now… POTUS should hold rallies in their backyards . They are defying the will of the majority of the American people.. Americans, except for the demented left, want the wall.
BUILD THE WALL.
Why “desperately needed”? What happened to the invasion??
Sorry incompetent dumbbell, when the dems take over the House shortly, that will be the end of the trump shutdown.
What a sorry weak excuse for a president.
it is tome to put crazykanoiy to a crazy asylum where you belong and save this site from your polluting and stupid comments.
The only thing the United States desperately needs is for a morally bankrupt, self aggrandizing, lying, fake fear mongering fool not to be President.