Politics

White House Eyes ‘Down Payment’ Wall Solution After Bill Fails

(Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
Font Size:

The White House is open to a short-term three-week funding bill that would include a down payment of some kind on a border wall as a way to end the partial government shutdown, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a Thursday evening statement.

“Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Chuck Schumer are meeting now to see whether or not they can work out of the deadlock. As was made clear to Senator Lindsay Graham, the 3 week CR would only work if there is a large down payment on the wall,” Sanders said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham(R-SC) points as William Barr, nominee to be US Attorney General, testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 15, 2019. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP)

President Donald Trump also told reporters Thursday evening that he would support anything “reasonable” that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer could come up with. Trump noted that “one of the ideas suggested is they open, they pay some sort of pro-rated down payment on the wall which you need.”

Sanders’ statement comes after Graham seeks to broker a compromise deal that would include some wall funding. Graham raised the subject with Trump in a phone call, after a White House-backed bill to end the partial government shutdown failed in the Senate on a margin of 50-47. The bill failed alongside legislation backed by Democrats that would provide no funding for the wall.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 24: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about developments in negotiations on Capitol Hill during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. Reports today indicate that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have met to discuss the options to end the shutdown. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 24: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about developments in negotiations on Capitol Hill during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Two sources close to the president told The Daily Caller that he was chagrined that two Republican senators voted against his bill, but generally impressed by the level of unity displayed. The president told conservative leaders Wednesday evening that he sought their assistance in uniting the right against his plan to keep the government shutdown, until he could draw meaningful concessions.  (RELATED: Trump Holds Fast On Shutdown As Advisers Warn Of Consequences)

The White House bill was the latest effort to end the partial government shutdown by offering Democrats the chance to extend the DACA program for an additional three years and the temporary protected status program. In exchange, the White House maintains its ask for $5.7 billion in funding, an increase in humanitarian aid and changes to the U.S. asylum law.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel