The Trump administration Sunday reaffirmed the president’s insistence that he would allow a partial shutdown of the federal government if Congress does not provide $5 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, with senior adviser Stephen Miller calling it a “fundamental issue.”
“At stake is the question of whether or not the United States remains a sovereign country,” Miller told CBS News’ “Face The Nation.” “The Democrat Party has a simple choice. They can either choose to fight for America’s working class or to promote illegal immigration. You can’t do both.”
When asked if the administration was willing to allow parts of the government to cease operation at midnight Friday if the wall is not funded, Miller answered: “If it comes to it, absolutely.”
On NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., insisted that President Trump “is not going to get the wall in any form.”
“President Trump should understand, there are not the votes for the wall in the House or the Senate,” Schumer said. “Even the House, which is a majority Republican, they don’t have the votes for his $5 billion wall plan … And we should not let a temper tantrum, threats, push us in the direction of doing something that everybody, even our Republican colleagues, know is wrong.”
Trump said last week he would be “proud” to have a shutdown to get Congress to approve a $5 billion down payment to fulfill his campaign promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Still, the president doesn’t have the votes from the Republican-controlled Congress to support funding for the wall at that level.
Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have proposed no more than $1.6 billion for border fencing upgrades and other security measures -but not a wall- as outlined in a bipartisan Senate bill. Democrats also offered to keep funding at its current level, $1.3 billion.
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