Thread: His word isn’t good’: Dems don’t trust Trump to make shutdown deal

His word isn’t good’: Dems don’t trust Trump to make shutdown deal

By BURGESS EVERETT and HEATHER CAYGLE
12/10/2018 05:08 AM EST

Expectations are low that anything will come of a meeting between Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump.

Donald Trump’s meeting Tuesday with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer may go a long way toward determining whether the government enters a partial shutdown before Christmas.

But as Democrats seriously re-engage with Trump for the first time in nearly a year, their broad distrust of the president has expectations for a deal at rock bottom.

“We’ve had limited success in dealing with this president,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “His word isn’t good. Within 48 hours he reverses himself. It’s very difficult to enter into a long-term agreement.”

The House and Senate Democratic leaders have been here before. Multiple times over the past two years they thought they'd cut a deal with Trump only to see him swiftly trash “Chuck and Nancy” and demand hefty conservative concessions.

Now Trump is threatening to shut down a large swath of the federal government if he doesn’t get billions in funding for his border wall.

But Democrats say they have no reason to think talks this week will end differently than they have in the past, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen House and Senate Democrats. And the Democratic leaders — constrained by an aggressive left flank in the party — are in no mood to even try to strike a sweeping immigration deal like in past negotiations.

Previously, they offered as much as $25 billion for Trump’s border wall in exchange for protecting 1.7 million young undocumented immigrants from deportation. That’s no longer on the table.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said of such a trade these days: “I wouldn’t support it.”

“We’ve said we’ll fund the wall in exchange for addressing the Dreamers and immigration issues. He said ‘fine,’ and then he reneged,” Shaheen said.

“I understand their concerns,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close Trump ally who was undercut by the White House earlier this year during immigration negotiations. “It’s tougher around here now. We’ve had two or three stops and starts with immigration.”

Schumer and Pelosi have tried to project unity in recent days, saying they won’t give Trump the $5 billion he’s asking for and calling to keep Department of Homeland Security spending at current levels if needed to keep the government open.

But even as the Democratic leaders look to avoid a shutdown, they don’t have complete freedom to maneuver.

Pelosi is working to win over 218 Democratic votes for her speaker bid and can’t afford to alienate an emboldened left wing of her caucus. Schumer, too, is trying to brush off criticisms over his negotiating record from liberals who think he shouldn’t give the president any spending at all on a border barrier, even as Congress provided more than a billion dollars last year.

Pelosi has previewed her posture in recent remarks, saying she wants to punt the debate altogether with a stopgap Homeland Security funding bill.

In some ways, Pelosi is negotiating with Trump as much as she is with her own caucus. The California Democrat is just weeks away from clinching the speaker’s gavel for the second time but is currently short of the votes.

Pelosi knows she can’t be perceived by her caucus as acquiescing to Trump. That could anger many of the Democrats she’s counting on to deliver her the speakership, a group that includes incoming freshmen who want to abolish some immigration enforcement programs entirely.

Pelosi’s supporters say they’re confident of her position and that the longtime Democratic leader knows there’s “no compromise” with the president on his wall.

“I don’t think she would agree to [additional wall funding],” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). “I think the reason she has such support is that people believe she understands the lines beyond which we can’t compromise.”

Schumer, meanwhile, has endorsed a bipartisan Senate bill that provides $1.6 billion for “fencing” along the border. House Democrats are opposed to the Senate bill despite the fact many of them voted for a similar, if smaller, amount of border security funding earlier this year.

Rep. Filemon Vela of Texas, one of a dozen-plus Democrats working to block Pelosi’s speaker bid, has been sharply critical of the California Democrat in the past but trusts Pelosi much more than Schumer in talks with Trump.

“This is a New York City conspiracy, and Schumer is on the verge of giving Trump his third down payment on the wall,” Vela said.

While Republicans in the House could potentially round up enough votes to pass a government funding deal on their own, Senate GOP leaders will need at least a handful of Democrats to pass anything, giving Schumer significant leverage in funding talks.

“[Pelosi’s] position in that meeting is meaningless unless she and those of us who oppose the wall funding can ensure that we bring all the other Democrats along for the ride,” Vela said. “You might as well call this the Schumer-Trump wall in my view.”

Senate Democrats who know Schumer well said House Democrats are misreading the Senate leader.

“I would challenge whether there is much of a relationship with President Trump,” Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland said of the current Schumer-Trump dynamic.

Sure, he’s open to talking to Trump, but the idea that the fix is in and Schumer will backstab liberals to help the president is pure fiction, they say.

“Schumer is a person who, if it doesn’t go well today, he’ll still get up tomorrow and say: ‘Is there a path forward?’ So he’s not going to let the president tweet something negative, make him mad and hold a grudge,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

But Kaine cast doubt on the idea that there’s even an agreement to be had with Trump: “For him, immigration is about waving a bloody shirt before an election. If there’s a deal, what is there for him to talk about?”

But there needs to be a breakthrough if there’s any way around a shutdown on Christmas. Roughly a quarter of the government will shutter on Dec. 21 absent a funding agreement, and though congressional Republicans and Democrats would probably be able to avoid it on their own, Trump must sign any bill — facing the choice of either backing down or digging in for a long confrontation.

He’s made clear in meetings with Republicans that he wants $5 billion for the border wall in whatever he signs, which could give his reelection effort a boost by delivering on one of his key campaign pledges.

“We’ve basically worked out most of our funding. Most of it. Except the linchpin there,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), referring to the border funding. “And that is the difference between the Democrats and the president.”

On cue, the president crowed over the wall in an appearance in Kansas City on Friday, declaring “it will be better than anybody’s ever seen” when he builds it. But to do so, he needs a lame-duck Congress to rally behind him, one with a House GOP majority limping out the door and Democrats digging in to stop Trump from claiming any victories.

With Democrats just weeks away from seizing control of the House, Vela said now is the time for his party to “draw a line in the sand.”

“If there were ever a time to send Trump a message, it’s now,” he said.

Rebecca Morin contributed to this report.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...pelosi-1051776

President Trump, just my two cents, but I would cancel the meeting with Chuck and Nancy. Their intentions are bogus. This is not a battle you can win, you don't have the votes and can't get them. That's a fact. Don't shut down the government over wall funding. Find another way to solve this illegal immigration problem.

I personally like Marines on the Border, Concertina Wire on the Fence and Judy's Plan B on the Home Countries. Go with that, something you control.

Merry Christmas, Mr. President.

No more meetings with Chuck and Nancy!

TWO YEARS WASTED ALREADY!

Make them ALL work through Christmas and New Year's!

Congress needs to pass a bill to STOP this invasion of our country and close loop holes now!

NO TIME OFF UNTIL IT IS DONE!

NO DACA, NO DEALS! WE WANT A STAND ALONE WALL BILL PAYING FOR THE WHOLE WALL!

NO PORK!

Yes, 2 years wasted chasing votes that aren't there. Got to find a different way to solve this problem within the Executive Branch powers and authority. Congress and Courts are useless and have been on this issue for at least 40 years. For the first time in my lifetime, we had the chance to use the Congress, we had a President 100% on our side, a US House of Representatives strong majority, and only 9 seats short of a bill passing majority in the US Senate. All "we the people" had to do was support our R House candidates, support our R Senate candidates and elect 9 more Republican Senators. Trump gave US the track record to do that with, tax cuts, USMCA, repeal of Obamacare mandate, deregulation, peace in Syria, peace path in North Korea, JOBS, JOBS, new deal in the works with China, South Korea new trade deal, withdrawal from Paris Climate Accord, withdrawal from Iran Nuclear Joke, pipelines, energy production soaring, coal mines reopening, steel and aluminum factories reopening and expanding, lowest unemployment for minorities in our history, lowest unemployment in 65 years for women, lowest unemployment overall in 49 years, stock market growth up 40%, tax cuts paid for in 1 year ....

And how do our American People respond? They elect DemoQuacks in the mid-terms to control the US House of Representatives completely destroying any hope of ever passing laws or funding to stop illegal immigration or reduce legal immigration.

There's an old saying you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. It applies to people, too. This situation has one culprit, the American Voter.

Trump can't solve this the normal way with legislation, he has to find another way to solve this problem and I think he knows that, so he's looking at those other ways and alternative methods to fix this. I hope he can come up with a good alternative plan to fix this and reduce Chuck and Nancy to: irrelevant.

The Democrats are right that President Trump's word is no good. Conservatives that voted for him for his tough stance against illegal immigration have learned that.

-- Trump promised a wall... no wall.
-- Trump promised to end Obama's DACA Amnesty on his first day... DACA is continued by Trump.
-- Trump promised to end birthright citizenship by Executive Order... he did not do it.
-- Trump said illegals had to go home... now he says they can stay and supports Amnesty bills.
-- Trump said he would clean up our elections but folded and shut down the Elections Integrity Commission headed by Kris Kobach at the first sign of RESSISTANCE.
-- Then Trump said he ordered DHS to clean up our elecions fraud problems... hasn't happened.
-- Trump has packed his administration with pro-Amnesty Bush faction operatives while leaving most anti-illegal immigration fighters out of his staff pool.
-- Trump said he was sending the US military to the border and ordering DHS to repel the illegal alien caravans. He said there would be no more catch and release and that the caravans would not be let in or would be kept in tent detention facilities near the borders. But instead he is letting the caravan illegals in and most of them are roaming free here inside the US at this time with government assistance.

Did I miss any other broken Trump promises on immigration? Please let me know because I plan to publicize our list.

Trump also approved to extend TPS for several countries!

Their "temporary" status is OVER...we want a weekly quota to start deporting THOUSANDS of them!

Trump promised to put refugees in SAFE ZONES and keep them in their countries...where are the SAFE ZONES!

Send these refugees back and stop bringing more here!

WHAT ABOUT WORK VISA'S? WE DON'T WANT THEM! THEY NEED TO PAY A 15% PRIVILEDGE TAX WITH 15% EMPLOYER MATCHING TO GO INTO OUR SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE...THEY GET NONE OF IT! THEN THOSE EMPLOYERS WILL START HIRING AMERICAN'S! MAKE THEM PAY AND THE EMPLOYER!

NO MORE CHEAP LABOR!

William, you forgot Sanctuary Cities.

Originally Posted by Beezer

Trump also approved to extend TPS for several countries!

Their "temporary" status is OVER...we want a weekly quota to start deporting THOUSANDS of them!

Trump promised to put refugees in SAFE ZONES and keep them in their countries...where are the SAFE ZONES!

Send these refugees back and stop bringing more here!

WHAT ABOUT WORK VISA'S? WE DON'T WANT THEM! THEY NEED TO PAY A 15% PRIVILEDGE TAX WITH 15% EMPLOYER MATCHING TO GO INTO OUR SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE...THEY GET NONE OF IT! THEN THOSE EMPLOYERS WILL START HIRING AMERICAN'S! MAKE THEM PAY AND THE EMPLOYER!

NO MORE CHEAP LABOR!

Beezer, there's no more Syrian refugees. Travel ban in place. They're building the safe zones in Syria. Syria is safe now. Trump solved that whole mess in Syria, ran ISIS out, and got Russia to establish peace and order. It's all good now in Syria, they're rebuilding and celebrating Christmas.

Send all the Syrian's here back home! The whole family and get them off our welfare and food stamps!

They should go home, reunite with their families and rebuild....without OUR money!

We gave them enough...now boot them out!

Oh yes, the ones already here should be ordered to return to Syria very shortly. Totally agree with you.