Thread: Republicans weigh punting Trump border wall fight until after midterms

Republicans weigh punting Trump border wall fight until after midterms

By Jordain Carney - 07/27/18 07:52 PM EDT

Congressional Republicans are mulling delaying a fight over funding President Trump's border wall until after the November midterm elections.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Friday that a battle over funding for the controversial U.S.-Mexico border wall would "probably" wait until after the fall elections.

"Probably, and that's something we do have a disagreement on," McConnell told a Kentucky radio station when asked if funding for the border wall would wait until after the midterm elections.

McConnell's comments come after he and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) met with Trump at the White House this week to discuss how to fund the government.

Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass funding legislation and avoid its third shutdown of the year.

But Trump's demand for border wall funding has loomed over the negotiations for months, and has emerged as a key division between the House and Senate.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would provide $1.6 billion for border barriers. Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee would give $5 billion.

Democrats, whose support is needed in the Senate, have dismissed the larger figure as a "non-starter."

McConnell's comments on Friday come after Ryan signaled this week that the fight over border wall funding could be pushed until after the Sept. 30 deadline.

"The president's willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so we can that done," Ryan said, adding that funding the wall was "not a question of if, it’s a question of when."

Lawmakers have focused on trying to pass smaller appropriations packages this year as they work to avoid another mammoth omnibus, which would roll the 12 individual spending bills into one piece of legislation.

Trump threatened to veto the March omnibus because it did not include more funding for his proposed border wall.

The administration is demanding a total of $25 billion for the wall, something Democrats say they will not agree to unless it is paired with an immigration deal.

McConnell said Friday that Congress is on track to pass at least nine of the 12 individual appropriations bills by the end of September.

But that means Congress will need to pass a short-term spending bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to fund at least part of the federal government – including the Department of Homeland Security.

"At the end of the [fiscal] year if we can't reach an agreement on that, we'll do what's called a continuing resolution for that little portion of the government," McConnell said.

Asked about a potential government shutdown, McConnell added: "That's not going to happen."

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3...after-midterms

But that means Congress will need to pass a short-term spending bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to fund at least part of the federal government – including the Department of Homeland Security.

I said they would go for another CR to once again delay getting a budget.

Originally Posted by Judy

Republicans weigh punting Trump border wall fight until after midterms

but Trump said

“We come up again on September 28th and if we don’t get border security we will have no choice, we will close down the country because we need border security.”

Do you want to shut down the government over a border security fight we don't have the votes to win?

Originally Posted by Judy

Do you want to shut down the government over a border security fight we don't have the votes to win?

ask Trump---he is the one who said it

Trump's already tweeted that's he's happy with the $5 billion for wall/fence/barriers and border security for next year that Yoder got added to the House Appropriations Bill. The next step is to get the Appropriations bill passed through the Senate with that $5 billion or something close to it in it and hopefully without all that other DemoQuack Amendment Junk. So Trump isn't going to shut down the government over border security. He may veto the bill for some reason or reasons, but then he'll sign a CR to keep the government open while they deal with the veto objections if it comes to that.

Originally Posted by Judy

Trump's already tweeted that's he's happy with the $5 billion for wall/fence/barriers and border security for next year that Yoder got added to the House Appropriations Bill. The next step is to get the Appropriations bill passed through the Senate with that $5 billion or something close to it in it and hopefully without all that other DemoQuack Amendment Junk. So Trump isn't going to shut down the government over border security. He may veto the bill for some reason or reasons, but then he'll sign a CR to keep the government open while they deal with the veto objections if it comes to that.

"Thank you to Congressman Kevin Yoder," Trump tweeted. "He secured $5 BILLION for Border Security. Now we need Congress to support. Kevin has been strong on Crime, the Border, the 2nd Amendment, and he loves our Military and Vets."

He needs Congress to support this bill----Tells most of us (his cheerleaders excluded) all we need to know!

Trump didn't say "the bill", he said the $5 billion.

Originally Posted by Judy

Trump didn't say "the bill", he said the $5 billion.

He conveniently forgot to tell his followers "the bill" has the poison pills in it.

Originally Posted by stoptheinvaders

He conveniently forgot to tell his followers "the bill" has the poison pills in it.

He probably didn't know what else was in the bill at that time which is why he didn't address the "bill", he was talking solely about Yoder's Amendment to put in $5 billion more for border security. But look, if you want to attack Republicans, I get it. Have at it. Maybe you'll luck out and elect a bunch of DemoQuacks in November. I don't think you'll succeed and I hope you don't, but it's election time again and everyone's free to say and do whatever they want.