Subscribe to the Blunt Force Truth podcast

Conservative Lawmakers Weigh in on Trump’s Shutdown Threat Over Wall, Immigration

President Donald Trump has threatened to shut down the government over border security, including the wall, in tweets this week, and some Republican lawmakers agree it’s crucial to address immigration.

“While neither the president or myself or any member of Congress … want a government shutdown, the president is playing his hand well and using his leverage to demand that the wall and border security be a major priority of another spending deal before the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year,” Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told The Daily Signal Thursday in a phone interview.

“I was glad to see the president speak out and demand that,” he added.

Government funding runs out Sept. 30 at midnight.

“I would be willing to ‘shut down’ government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for border security, which includes the wall,” Trump tweeted Sunday.  “Must get rid of lottery, catch-and-release, etc., and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our country.”

Trump tweeted again about the matter Tuesday:

In an interview with radio host Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday, the president further discussed the possibility of a shutdown, saying,

The other thing is the wall. We’ve started it. It’s like pulling teeth, though, getting these guys to get it done is. You have no idea how tough I’ve been. I say, ‘Hey, if you have a shutdown, you have a shutdown.’ … I happen to think it’s a great political thing, because people want border security.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., said Tuesday that lawmakers are aiming to “send the president a series of conference reports covering … nine of 12 appropriation bills early after we get back from the Labor Day weekend break.”

A person familiar with the July 25 meeting between McConnell; House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.; and Trump told The Daily Signal in an email that “the agreement reached at the meeting was that we’re on track to get more than half of federal spending enacted before the beginning of the fiscal year and that DHS funding (including the wall) doesn’t need to be one of the bills settled before the beginning of the fiscal year.”

“The president supports the $5 billion level of funding for border security (including the wall) in the DHS bill that passed the House Appropriations committee. That will likely be a point of tension with Democrats as we work to close out final funding for [fiscal year 2019] later this year,” the source added.

Read the full story from The Daily Signal


Want more BFT? Leave us a voicemail on our page or follow us on Twitter @BFT_Podcast and Facebook @BluntForceTruthPodcast. We want to hear from you! There’s no better place to get the #BluntForceTruth.