With a potential government shutdown just days away, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) dug in on Sunday, telling Meet The Press that President Trump is “not going to get the wall in any form.”
Last Tuesday Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) clashed over Trump’s $5 billion demand for border wall funding in an awkwardly televised argument in the Oval Office, prompting Schumer to later declare on the Senate Floor: “I want to be crystal clear. There will be no additional appropriations to pay for the border wall. It’s done.“
The New York Democrat echoed his comments on Meet The Press Sunday, telling host Chuck Todd that Trump doesn’t have the votes in the House or the Senate – saying that the president is having a “temper tantrum” over the wall.
WATCH: @SenSchumer says we can’t let the president’s “temper tantrum” cause a government shutdown. #MTP #IfItsSunday pic.twitter.com/DSj7JktTlP
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) December 16, 2018
“They do not have the votes to pass the president’s proposal — $5 billion or whatever it is for the wall,” said Pelosi at a recent news conference. “So … if nothing is going to change in that regard, I don’t know why we just don’t proceed to keep government open so that people can be home for the holidays.”
Meanwhile, the odds of a shutdown spiked to 58% on PredictIt, nearly double what it was 24 hours ago.
Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-MI) thinks the odds are even higher. “The odds are 65/35 we’re shutting down. I’m not optimistic we’re going to see some kind of compromise on appropriations on Homeland Security,” said Mitchell, the freshman representative for the Republican leadership team. “I don’t see that they’re going to get done bickering.”
“Trump will get the blame, but he won’t care,” added an unnamed GOP lawmaker quoted by The Hill. “And the base will love him for it.”
Yesterday we reported that Republicans are growing frustrated with Trump’s holdout over funding the wall, after the president shockingly declared that he would be “proud” to take credit for a shutdown if he doesn’t get his wall.
“If we don’t get what we want, one way or the other … I will shut down the government. Absolutely,” said Trump during an awkward argument broadcast live. “I am proud to shut down the government for border security.“
With the two sides at an impasse, it appears that the partial shutdown is a foregone conclusion unless someone blinks.
“There is no discernable plan. None that’s been disclosed,” said #2 Senate Republican John Cornyn of Texas. “Everybody’s looking to [Trump] for a signal about what he wants to do. So far, it’s not clear.”
The last time the government shut down in January, the GOP-controlled House was able to pass a short-term spending solution until February 16 – only to be blocked by Schumer and Democratic Senators because it did not have provisions for immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
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