Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer continued with his commitment not to provide additional funding for the border wall while he spoke Thursday on the Senate floor.
“I want to be crystal clear — there will be no additional appropriations to pay for the border wall,” Schumer said. “It’s done.”
Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi got into a heated exchange with President Donald Trump on Tuesday while meeting in the Oval Office to see if they can agree upon a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and various other departments. (RELATED: Lindsey Graham Urges Trump To ‘Dig In And Not Give In’ To Get Border Wall Funding)
Congress previously passed legislation that would fund the federal government for two weeks in order to avert a shutdown. Trump has been facing threats, even threatening to shut down the government in light of the funding bill’s Dec. 21 expiration.
While Trump has been demanding $5 billion to build a wall along the southern border, Schumer has been adamant in maintaining the 2018 levels of roughly $1.3 billion. The New York senator cautioned Trump that Democrats would be willing to wait until they take back control of the House to pass a yearlong funding stopgap that would provide border funding at the level they see fit.
President Donald Trump speaks next to Vice President Mike Pence while meeting with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at the White House in December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
While speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer dismissed funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border as “not a serious proposal” and called it a “throwaway idea” used to “fire up his base.”
Pelosi has also been vehemently opposed to a border wall, claiming it would be “immoral, ineffective and expensive.”
This post was updated to say Schumer has been adamant in maintaining the 2018 levels of roughly $1.3 billion.
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