Well that didn’t take long.
In fact, even before President Trump has issued his “major announcement,” Democratic leaders were pre-emptively rejecting his ideas.
Trump’s BRIDGE Act made two offers to Democrats in exchange for $5.7 billion in funds for a border wall: Extend DACA protections for Dreamers, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and extend the legal status of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders.
Half an hour before the speech, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement:
“Democrats were hopeful that the President was finally willing to re-open government and proceed with a much-need discussion to protect the border.
Unfortunately, initial reports make clear that his proposal is a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable and in total, do not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people’s lives.”
Pelosi further slammed the deal for not including “the permanent solution for the Dreamers and TPS recipients that our country needs and supports.”
Additionally, Democratic Whip Dick Durbin also issued a statement:
“First, President Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell must open the government today. Second, I cannot support the proposed offer as reported and do not believe it can pass the Senate. Third, I am ready to sit down at any time after the government is opened and work to resolve all outstanding issues.”
A Democratic aide characterized the forthcoming offer from Trump as “non-serious product.”
“Dems were not consulted on this and have rejected similar overtures previously. It’s clearly a non serious product of negotiations amongst [White House] staff to try to clean up messes the president created in the first place. [The President] is holding more people hostage for his wall,” the aide said.
Day 30 of the shutdown seems inevitable…
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