Even Republicans are sick of Trump demanding $5 billion for his border wall
Trump might shut down the government again over his obsession with the wall.
Trump is threatening yet another disastrous government shutdown by once more demanding $5 billion from Congress to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Hill reported on Sunday.
Government funding doesn’t run out until September 30, but Trump’s White House lackeys are already demanding Senate Republicans include $5 billion for the border wall before they start budget negotiations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Hill described Republican lawmakers as both nervous that Trump’s actions could lead to a shutdown and annoyed at the political ignorance displayed by Trump and his team.
“They want $5 billion. I don’t think they’re going to get $5 billion for the wall,” one Republican lawmaker told the Hill.
Even Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, knows Democrats won’t vote for $5 billion for a border wall, the Hill notes. Shelby and Republicans also know that if they stick with Trump’s demand and refuse to budge, the country could suffer once again.
In late 2018, Trump shut down the government for 35 days in an extended temper tantrum demanding $5 billion for the wall. The shutdown started when Republicans were in charge of the White House, the Senate, and the House.
The shutdown didn’t end until the Democratic majority in the House came to power and forced Trump to cave on his outlandish demand. But before Trump caved, the American economy lost $11 billion, air travel became riskier, and security experts warned Trump had created a national security crisis.
Despite the damage Trump did to the country, many Republicans share Trump’s obsession with a border wall. One Trump sycophant, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), was so eager to promote the wall that he lied about visiting the southern border to see border wall construction; in reality, he was 100 miles away looking at prototypes.
Another Trump loyalist, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), almost violated his parole while filming himself pretending to cross the border and walk into Mexico.
During the Trump shutdown, Republicans in Congress regularly voted to keep the government shut down in order to support Trump’s desire to fund a border wall. By doing so, those Republicans withheld paychecks from hundreds of thousands of government workers.
Now that Trump is back to making the same unreasonable demand, Republicans will have another opportunity to show whether they stand with him or with ordinary Americans.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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