‘Shutdown today!’ Trump warns Senate Democrats to go along with lame-duck House and give him border wall money as he urges Mitch McConnell to go ‘nuclear’ and let the budget pass with a simple majority
House Republicans passed a government funding measure that includes the $5 billion President Trump wants to build his border wall
The bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate where it needs bipartisan support
‘Everyone knows it can’t pass the Senate,’ Sen. Chuck Schumer said
President Trump decided not to sign a must-pass spending bill on Thursday because it doesn’t include funding for his border wall
One bill had already passed in the Senate and would have delayed the border battle until Feb. 8 in order to keep government open over the holidays
House was about to vote on the legislation when Trump pulled the rug out
Trump blasted GOP leaders in a tweet after a phone conversation with Paul Ryan, who had previously promised to fight for the wall after the mid-term elections
‘When I begrudgingly signed the Omnibus Bill, I was promised the Wall and Border Security by leadership,’ he said. ‘It didn’t happen!’
House Republicans added $5 billion for Trump’s wall into a continuing resolution to fund the government
Democrats have said they will not pay for $5 billion for Trump’s wall
Areas of the government will shut down without action on Friday
By FRANCESCA CHAMBERS
DAILYMAIL.COM
21 December 2018
President Donald Trump said Friday that the government would shutdown over the holidays if he doesn’t get his border wall funding in a series of warning to Senate Democrats.
‘Shutdown today if Democrats do not vote for Border Security!’ he said in a tweet.
House Republicans delivered the $5 billion that Trump demanded for his border wall on Thursday night but the measure was doomed on arrival in the Senate, making a government shutdown almost inevitable.
Republicans control 51 seats in the upper chamber, and need nine Democrats to side with them, based on long-standing rules for Senate’s behavior.
Trump told Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to throw them out and pass his border wall funding with a simple majority this morning as the nation started down a holiday shut down.
‘Mitch, use the Nuclear Option and get it done! Our Country is counting on you!’ he said.
McConnell has refused to change the Senate rules for two years, though, just to satisfy the president’s legislative demands.
The Senate will convene at 12 pm on Friday for a session that McConnell will kick off with remarks. Senators wishing to speak after him will have 10 minutes each to do so. A vote could come later in the day.
If the Senate votes down the House bill that has the border wall funding, the president said on Friday morning that he would let the government shutdown rather than sign a Senate-passed measure that does not fund his wall but keeps the government open until Feb. 8.
His spokeswoman said Thursday evening that he wouldn’t depart today for Palm Beach, as previously planned, for his Christmas holiday in the event of a shutdown.
Other than his nixing his own holiday, it wasn’t clear what the president planned to do if there was a shutdown or how long he would let one continue.
The House vote was a symbolic victory for the president and his last chance to get the money he needs before Democrats take control of the House next year.
But the victory is bittersweet.
While it passed the House, both sides have acknowledged it’s dead-on-arrival in the Senate ahead of Friday’s deadline to avert a partial government shutdown.
And the lack of next steps has increased the odds that deadline won’t be met.
‘Everyone knows it can’t pass the Senate. It’s a cynical attempt, a cynical attempt to just hurt innocent people and do just what President Trump wants,’ Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday night of the House measure.
The president needs 60 votes to move his border wall funding through the upper chamber, which means he needs 11 Democrats to vote in favor of his signature campaign promise.
The Rest…HERE
