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Trump to Meet Congressional Leaders as Shutdown Stretches On Trump to Meet Congressional Leaders as Shutdown Stretches On
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump plans to host congressional leaders on Wednesday in the White House Situation Room for a border security briefing that could either be the latest skirmish over his wall or the beginnings of a resolution to a government shutdown that is stretching into its 12th day. WASHINGTON — President Trump plans to host congressional leaders on Wednesday in the White House Situation Room for a border security briefing that is shaping up as the next bitter skirmish in a battle over his wall that has stretched a government shutdown into its 12th day.
The 3 p.m. gathering will be in the secure room in the White House basement where military operations are tracked and other sensitive discussions unfold, a conscious effort to infuse a sense of national-security crisis into the immigration discussion. It will be Mr. Trump’s first face-to-face meeting with Democratic leaders since a combative session last month when he said he would insist that any government spending bill include money for a wall on the southwestern border — and would proudly own the consequences if that meant a shutdown. The 3 p.m. gathering will be in the secure room in the White House basement where military operations are tracked and other sensitive discussions unfold, a conscious effort by Mr. Trump and his aides to infuse a sense of national-security crisis into the immigration discussion. It will be the president’s first face-to-face meeting with Democratic leaders since a combative session last month when he said he would insist that any government spending bill include money for a wall on the southwestern border — and would proudly own the consequences if that meant a shutdown.
But hours before it began, what was billed as a somber security briefing took on the sharp tone of a choreographed political showdown, as Mr. Trump made his case anew for his wall and charged that Democrats were sacrificing border security to gain partisan advantage in the 2020 elections.
“The United States needs a physical barrier,” the president said during a cabinet meeting Wednesday morning, comparing the southern border to “a sieve” that allows criminals and drugs to enter the country and facilitates human trafficking.
“Walls work,” he added, claiming inaccurately that former President Barack Obama has one “around his compound” in Washington, D.C. (Parts of Mr. Obama’s home in Northwest Washington are bordered by a low brick retaining wall and others have iron or chain-link fencing.)
“We are in a shutdown because Democrats refuse to fund border security,” the president said Wednesday, although Democrats have offered billions of dollars for border security, just not his wall. He charged that Democrats were playing politics with an eye on the next presidential election in 2020.
Democrats have refused to allocate any money — let alone the $5 billion that Mr. Trump has demanded — for a large, physical barrier like the wall desired by the president to thwart illegal border crossings. Instead, Democrats, in full control of the House, will vote Thursday on two bills to fund most of the government through Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security to Feb. 8.Democrats have refused to allocate any money — let alone the $5 billion that Mr. Trump has demanded — for a large, physical barrier like the wall desired by the president to thwart illegal border crossings. Instead, Democrats, in full control of the House, will vote Thursday on two bills to fund most of the government through Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security to Feb. 8.
They would devote $1.3 billion for border security measures, such as enhanced surveillance and fortified fencing.They would devote $1.3 billion for border security measures, such as enhanced surveillance and fortified fencing.
“We are giving the Republicans the opportunity to take yes for an answer,” Ms. Pelosi, who will assume the speakership on Thursday, wrote in a letter to House Democrats on Tuesday night. “Senate Republicans have already supported this legislation, and if they reject it now, they will be fully complicit in chaos and destruction of the president’s third shutdown of his term.”“We are giving the Republicans the opportunity to take yes for an answer,” Ms. Pelosi, who will assume the speakership on Thursday, wrote in a letter to House Democrats on Tuesday night. “Senate Republicans have already supported this legislation, and if they reject it now, they will be fully complicit in chaos and destruction of the president’s third shutdown of his term.”
But Mr. Trump has called the Homeland Security funding proposal — which the Senate passed unanimously last month — unacceptable, saying that it shows that Democrats, as he tweeted on Tuesday, “do not care about Open Borders.” But Mr. Trump has called the funding proposal unacceptable, saying that it shows that Democrats, as he tweeted on Tuesday, “do not care about Open Borders.” The Senate unanimously passed legislation last month to keep all of the government funded through Feb. 8, without border-wall money, but the Republican-controlled House refused to vote on the measure.
Senior Democratic aides said they had low expectations for the session, which they predicted would be a stunt manufactured for dramatic optics with a one-sided presentation from the White House, that would not yield progress toward a resolution of the impasse. Senior Democratic aides said they had low expectations for the briefing, which they predicted would be a stunt manufactured for dramatic optics with a one-sided presentation from the White House, which would not yield progress toward a resolution of the impasse.
“It’s not often the president gets to hear people tell him when he’s wrong,” said Justin Goodman, a spokesman for Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader. “Democrats intend to do that today.”“It’s not often the president gets to hear people tell him when he’s wrong,” said Justin Goodman, a spokesman for Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader. “Democrats intend to do that today.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump repeated his false claims about the border wall, including that Mexico was already paying for it, as he promised during his campaign, and that much of its construction had already been completed.On Wednesday, Mr. Trump repeated his false claims about the border wall, including that Mexico was already paying for it, as he promised during his campaign, and that much of its construction had already been completed.
The president has puzzled lawmakers and his own aides with his contention that Mexico is financing the wall through the revised Nafta trade pact between Mexico, Canada and the United States, known as the USMCA. The agreement contains no such proviso, and it is designed to lower tariffs, not raise them. The president has puzzled lawmakers and his own aides with his contention that Mexico is financing the wall through the revised Nafta trade pact between Mexico, Canada and the United States, known as the USMCA. The agreement, which has yet to pass Congress, contains no such proviso, and it is designed to lower tariffs, not raise them.
And while Mr. Trump claims that the wall is already being built, the Republican-controlled Congress enacted legislation barring any money from being spent to do so, and no such construction has occurred. The Trump administration has spent less than 10 percent of the other border security funding, for fencing and other measures, that Congress provided over the last year.And while Mr. Trump claims that the wall is already being built, the Republican-controlled Congress enacted legislation barring any money from being spent to do so, and no such construction has occurred. The Trump administration has spent less than 10 percent of the other border security funding, for fencing and other measures, that Congress provided over the last year.
As the shutdown showdown nears the two-week mark and Democrats prepare to take the helm in the House, the search for a way out is getting more urgent. Some lawmakers have grown increasingly anxious about its impact on their constituents, including federal workers who are not receiving pay while their agencies are denied funding.
Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, published an opinion piece in The Washington Post suggesting three ways out: Grant the president the $1.6 billion for border security that he requested, without wall funding, plus an additional $1 billion for security at ports of entry; approve a bipartisan bill linking wall funding with protection for young immigrants brought illegally to the country as children; or resurrect the 2013 comprehensive immigration overhaul that included huge increases in border security measures, sweeping changes to immigration law and a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Meantime, incoming lawmakers showed new concerns about the shutdown’s impact.
“This morning I requested that my pay be withheld until the shutdown is over,” Representative-elect Mikie Sherill, Democrat of New Jersey, said Wednesday on Twitter, where she posted a letter to the chief administrative officer of the House making official her request.
She noted that 800,000 federal workers are not receiving paychecks during the partial shutdown, including thousands in her state. “I came here to govern, not engage in partisan politics at the expense of hardworking Americans,” Ms. Sherill said.
Representative-elect Max Rose, Democrat of New York, said he would donate his salary for the duration of the shutdown to a local Staten Island charity, likely a nonprofit counseling charity focused on treating addiction and substance abuse.
He said any talk of a broader immigration compromise should wait until the government re opens. “We’re dealing with people’s lives here,” he said in an interview Monday.