President Donald Trump threatened Sunday to shut down the federal government this fall if Congress does not pass sweeping changes to immigration laws, including appropriating more public money to b…
By Philip Rucker, Robert Costa and Damian Paletta
BRIDGEWATER, N. J. – President Donald Trump threatened Sunday to shut down the federal government this fall if Congress does not pass sweeping changes to immigration laws, including appropriating more public money to build his long-promised border wall.
“I would be willing to ‘shut down’ government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!” Trump tweeted. “Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!”
Trump’s shutdown warning – which he has made before – escalates the stakes ahead of a Sept. 30 government funding deadline, a political showdown before the November midterm elections that Republican congressional leaders had hoped to avoid. A funding fight also could prove a distraction from Republican efforts in the Senate to confirm Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by Oct. 1.
Trump’s declaration on Twitter surprised some lawmakers who have been eager to avoid a bruising funding fight and highlighted his intense desire to make progress on signature agenda items that have stalled.
Trump met Wednesday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and discussed the upcoming spending fight. The president signaled in the White House meeting that he was on board with McConnell and Ryan’s strategy to fund the government smoothly through “minibuses,” or smaller packages of spending bills that had been moving through the House and Senate, according to a person familiar with the meeting.
But in recent days, Trump has also spoken with several outside political allies who have urged him to strike a tougher line on the border wall as a means of pressuring Democrats and rallying his core voters in November, according to two people briefed on those discussions.
It is unclear, though, whether simply threatening to shut down the government could push Democrats to agree to fund construction of the wall, particularly because Trump has backed down at the last minute repeatedly before.
Both last year and this year, Trump said he would shut down the government if Democrats didn’t agree to fund construction of the wall. Both times, Democrats refused, and both times, Trump agreed to sign spending bills that did not include funds for a new wall along the southern border.
Spending bills have appropriated funds to replace existing walls or barriers, something Trump has tried to promote to his supporters as signs of progress. The last spending bill funded $1.6 billion for border barriers, but that money does not apply to new construction.
There was a brief government shutdown in January after Senate Democrats refused to back a spending package because of Trump’s move to potentially force the deportation of immigrants who had been brought to the United States illegally as children. But Democratic solidarity over the matter did not last long. They backed down quickly.
While congressional GOP leaders have worked over the past week to signal solidarity with Trump on immigration, they also struck notes of caution about the timing of any significant legislative progress.
McConnell said Friday that talks over funding the wall would “probably” have to wait until after the midterms. “Probably, and that’s something we do have a disagreement on,” he said in an interview with a Kentucky radio station, referring to the timing of action on Capitol Hill.
Ryan said Thursday that he believed Trump is “willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so we can that done.” The House speaker added that the proposed border wall would eventually be built, calling it “not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”
Congress reached an agreement in March to fund government operations through the end of September, and it must pass new legislation by then or the government will partially shut down Oct. 1, just five weeks before the midterm elections.
The White House’s demands for border funding have ranged widely, from around $2 billion to $25 billion, since Trump’s inauguration.
House Republicans are trying to appropriate $5 billion to begin construction of the wall, a figure Trump has endorsed. Some Senate Democrats have shown a willingness to partially fund construction of the wall in exchange for other immigration policy changes, but those talks have repeatedly broken down.
During the presidential campaign, Trump frequently promised that Mexico would pay for construction of the wall, but the Mexican government has refused to do so. This has led Trump to demand that U. S. taxpayers fund construction of the wall, claiming he would recoup the money from Mexico through other means.
Democrats believe they will make significant gains in the midterms, and any gains could make it more difficult for Trump to secure money for the construction of the wall. Trump’s shutdown threat could be his last ploy to secure border-wall funding before the midterms. Related Articles
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Trump has embraced a big-spending approach to government since taking office, allowing Democrats to secure funding for a number of their priorities in order for him to win a bigger budget for the military. This had helped dramatically expand the budget deficit, leading to complaints from conservatives.
Trump said in March when he signed the last spending bill that he would not allow this to happen again, but Republicans have such a slim majority in the Senate that it makes it impossible to pass spending bills without any support from Democrats.
