Trump Signals Willingness to Drop Border Wall Funding in Budget Standoff
Video Trump signals he's willing to delay funding border wall to avoid shutdown 2:17
It seems when the Democrats start mouthing
off that they don’t like an issue or a policy the Republicans fold like a cheap
shirt.
At the least when it comes to funding
building wall on southern border.
How is it that with a Republican majority in
the house, senate and a Republican President, the Democrats can shut down
government.
President Donald Trump has indicated that he's willing
to back away from his demand that a government funding bill include money to
build a wall on the Southern border, a move that could help clear the way for
Congress to avoid a shutdown.
A senior administration official
tells NBC News that the president is open to obtaining funding for the border
wall in the regular appropriations process for 2018 later this year instead of
insisting it be included as part of the large spending bill to keep the
government's lights on past this week.
Such a development would be
welcome news on Capitol Hill as congressional negotiators struggled to work
past the administration's demands that few members wanted.
"It's good for the country
that President Trump is taking the wall off the table in these
negotiations," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement
Monday night after reports of the president's posture circulated. "Now the
bipartisan and bicameral negotiators can continue working on the outstanding
issues."
The $1 billion request by the
administration for a down-payment on the border wall, a project estimated to
cost more than $20 billion, has been a major sticking point in negotiations to
avoid a shutdown when the current funding runs out at midnight on Friday.
The president first expressed
this new position during a private reception with conservative media Monday at
the White House. More
