U. S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday he was optimistic that Republicans, Democrats and President Donald Trump could reach a deal to end a government shutdown.<\/b>
\nU. S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday he was optimistic that Republicans, Democrats and President Donald Trump could reach a deal to end a government shutdown that includes border wall funding and legal status for some illegal immigrants.
Graham, a Republican, told reporters after meeting Trump for lunch at the White House that Trump was receptive to Graham\u2019s idea of a deal that might provide work permits to so-called Dreamers, people brought illegally to the United States as children, in exchange for money for physical border barriers.
\u201cThe president was upbeat, he was in a very good mood, and I think he\u2019s receptive to making a deal,\u201d Graham said on CNN, adding that Trump found the potential Dreamer concession \u201cinteresting.\u201d
But the senator said there would never be a government spending deal that did not include money for a wall or other physical barriers on the U. S.-Mexico border. The wall was one of the central promises of Trump\u2019s presidential campaign.
\u201cI don\u2019t see Democrats giving us more money unless they get something. So, the one thing we talked about is making deals,\u201d Graham said.
\u201cAfter lunch I\u2019ve never been more encouraged that if we can get people talking we can find our way out of this mess and that would include around $5 billion for border security, slash wall, slash fencing whatever you want to call it in areas that make sense,\u201d he added.
Trump later made clear on Twitter that he regarded a wall as necessary.
\u201cPresident and Mrs. Obama built\/has a ten foot Wall around their D. C. mansion\/compound. I agree, totally necessary for their safety and security,\u201d Trump wrote. \u201cThe U. S. needs the same thing, slightly larger version!\u201d
President and Mrs. Obama built\/has a ten foot Wall around their D. C. mansion\/compound. I agree, totally necessary for their safety and security. The U. S. needs the same thing, slightly larger version!
\u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30,2018
Earlier, on CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union\u201d program, Graham floated the idea of giving Democrats a version of stalled legislation to protect Dreamers from deportation in exchange for wall funding.
The Trump administration in 2017 announced plans to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, begun under former President Barack Obama to shield Dreamers from deportation. But Trump\u2019s DACA phase-out has been delayed by court rulings against it.
With the partial government shutdown in its ninth day on Sunday, some other lawmakers were less upbeat about prospects for a deal to restore spending authority.
Republican Senator Richard Shelby warned on CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation\u201d that negotiations were at an impasse and the shutdown \u201ccould last a long, long time.\u201d
Democratic U. S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries said the country needed comprehensive immigration reform and border security.
\u201cWe are not willing to pay $2.5 billion or $5 billion and wasting taxpayer dollars on a ransom note because Donald Trump decided that he was going to shut down the government and hold the American people hostage,\u201d Jeffries said on ABC.
Democrats take control of the U. S. House of Representatives this week, following November\u2019s congressional elections.<\/p>\n