President Donald Trump threw a vote to keep the government open into jeopardy on Thursday as he called the House speaker during a closed-door caucus meeting and suggested he wouldn't sign a must-pass spending bill if it doesn't fund his border wall.
The White House has not taken a formal position on the bill that would delay the border wall battle until Feb. 8.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that Trump is still weighing his options and had summoned House Speaker Paul Ryan to the White House for a lunchtime discussion.
'The President is having a meeting with Republican House Members at noon today. At this moment, the President does not want to go further without border security, which includes steel slats or a wall. The President is continuing to weigh his options,' she said.
Trump blasted GOP leaders in a tweet after a phone conversation with Ryan, who had previously promised him he would fight for the wall after the mid-term elections.
'When I begrudgingly signed the Omnibus Bill, I was promised the Wall and Border Security by leadership. Would be done by end of year (NOW). It didn’t happen! We foolishly fight for Border Security for other countries - but not for our beloved U.S.A. Not good!' Trump said.
President Donald Trump threw a vote to keep the government open into jeopardy on Thursday as he called the House speaker during a closed-door caucus meeting and suggested in tweets that he wouldn't sign a must-pass spending bill if it doesn't fund his border wall
Trump blasted GOP leaders in a tweet after a phone conversation with Paul Ryan, who had previously promised him he would fight for the wall after the mid-term elections
The president sparked panic early in the morning when he said he would not sign 'any' legislation that does not have 'perfect border security' hours after the U.S. Senate passed a stop-gap spending bill that does not include money for a border wall
The president sparked panic early in the morning when he said he would not sign 'any' legislation that does not have 'perfect border security' hours after the U.S. Senate passed a stop-gap spending bill that does not include money for a border wall.
The bill awaits a vote in the House, where last-minute negotiations were taking place to drive up the whip count. Disaster aid and wall funding were among the propositions that were being floated in the lower chamber as add-ons.
Conservatives were digging in and saying they wouldn't pass a bill, unless it includes an appropriation for the border barrier.
If the bill doesn't pass or the president declines to sign it, parts of the government will close early Saturday.
Trump first suggested that he could oppose the legislation, because it doesn't fund the wall, in a morning tweet.
'The Democrats, who know Steel Slats (Wall) are necessary for Border Security, are putting politics over Country,' he said. 'What they are just beginning to realize is that I will not sign any of their legislation, including infrastructure, unless it has perfect Border Security. U.S.A. WINS!'
At a closed-door caucus meeting Ryan insisted that Trump would sign the bill, a Republican congressman said, only to receive a call from the president mid-way through that upended the process.
It was not immediately known what was said on the call, but it caused chaos on Capitol Hill, where Ryan was about to host his final press conference as a GOP leader.
Ryan abruptly cancelled his news conference minutes later after Trump smacked GOP leaders in a tweet.
Nancy Pelosi, the current Democratic leader and expected House Speaker come January, called the situation a 'meltdown' as she spoke from the podium at her news conference.
'Republicans are in a state of disarray,' she said of the 'breakdown' among the ruling party.
Pelosi said her members would vote for a continuing resolution to keep the government open but would not support a bill that allows the president to build a wall.
'I think we've made that clear. We'll see what they come up with,' she said. 'But in terms of wall funding, that's a non-starter. I think they know that.'
Trump suggested in his first tweet of the day that he could sign the short-term spending bill now and refuse to sign any legislation in 2019 that doesn't fund the wall, including a bipartisan infrastructure package both parties hope to pass.
Pelosi told reporters she thinks the president is unlikely to follow through on that threat. 'I believe the president wants to do an infrastructure bill. I don't know that he'll throw a tantrum over it when he sees what the bill might be,' she said.
Trump suggested that he could oppose a bill to keep the government open because it doesn't fund the wall in a morning tweet
His mixed signal followed the White House's public announcement that would accept less than $5 billion in funding for his border wall this fiscal year amid negotiations to keep the government open
His mixed signals on what he would and wouldn't be willing to approve followed the White House's public announcement this week that it would be willing to accept less than $5 billion in funding for his border wall this fiscal year amid negotiations to keep the government open.
The vice president reportedly told senators during a Wednesday luncheon that Trump would sign the continuing resolution, staving off a shutdown just in time for the billionaire president to jet down to his private club in Palm Beach for his annual Christmastime visit.
The GOP's top vote counter, John Cornyn, told CNN that Mike Pence affirmed at a closed-press meeting that Trump would sign the bill that punts the debate over his border wall to next year.
Sen. Bill Cassidy revealed on Fox News on Thursday, 'The White House was in room when the deal was originally crafted.'
That bill passed in the Senate by voice vote with a boost from Democrats and had the support of Pelosi, the top-ranking Democrat in Congress, in the House of Representatives.
Conservatives in the lower chamber were urging Trump not to back down, however, from his request for funds for the border wall.
House Freedom Caucus founder Jim Jordan said that this could be Trump's last chance to fulfill his most memorable campaign promise.
'Pelosi's going to be speaker,' he said on Fox News of the January takeover of Congress by Democrats. 'It's never going to happen.'
The conservative group's head, Rep. Mark Meadows, who Trump recently turned down to be his chief of staff, said the group believes the president is getting 'bad advice' on how to play the spending fight.
'They know that he's promised not once, not twice but three different times that he would get border wall funding, and here we are about to punt,' Meadows told reporters on Capitol Hill, suggesting that Trump had been played by GOP leaders like Ryan.
Ryan told members of his caucus at a closed-door meeting on Thursday morning that he expects the spending bill to pass, CNN reported.
New York Republican Chris Collins told reporters outside the meeting that Ryan also committed Trump to signing the legislation.
Trump apparently called Ryan minutes later and told him the agreement was off.
It remained unclear at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on Thursday afternoon what the president would do as he brought Ryan and other Republican leaders to the White House to hash the issue out.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has been hammering Trump on foreign policy moves this week, said on Fox News that the president should refuse to sign a bill that doesn't include funding for his border wall.
'If I were him I'd stand firm,' he said. 'That's a fight worth having.'
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (seen on Capitol Hill Wednesday) said the measure will fund normal government operations at current levels through February 8 - bringing Washington a step closer to avoiding a potentially crippling closure of some federal offices over Christmas
Trump said the new trade deal means Mexico will pay for his wall
Earlier in the week, the White House denied that Trump was mulling a short-term spending bill that doesn't fund his wall, but as a shutdown loomed the president's spokeswoman indicated that Trump would sign whatever the Senate sends him.
Sanders said Tuesday that Trump has also tasked every Cabinet secretary to look through agency funds to see what if anything they can redirect to the border wall.
'We are looking to those individuals to find out those specific pots of money that can be used for that,' she said at a briefing on Tuesday.
Trump has claimed he could tap the military or use money that's reaped from his new trade accord.
'Mexico is paying (indirectly) for the Wall through the new USMCA, the replacement for NAFTA! Far more money coming to the U.S. Because of the tremendous dangers at the Border, including large scale criminal and drug inflow, the United States Military will build the Wall!' he tweeted.
There is nothing in the trade agreement that requires Mexico to pay for the wall. The administration is making a more nuanced argument that taxpayers and businesses will be saving money on goods and services that they will inject back into the U.S. economy.
'The President has been clear that the USMCA deal would provide additional revenue through that deal that would show that Mexico was paying for the wall,' Sanders said.
Rep. Mark Meadows, head of the House Freedom Caucus, says the president is getting 'bad advice' on how to play the spending fight
She added: 'He's saying that the revenue provided and the money that would be saved through the USMCA deal, we could pay for the wall four times over. And by doing that new trade deal, we have the opportunity to pay for the wall.'
There's no direct line of revenue from the agreement to the U.S. Treasury. Tax revenue generated by the trade provisions would not come from Mexico but from U.S. taxpayers and corporations.
Trump previously has threatened to use the military if Democrats wouldn't fully fund his border wall. As commander-in-chief he can issue orders to the troops.
But Congressional Democrats have warned that the Pentagon does not have the power to redirect funding from other projects.
The U.S. Constitution requires Congressional approval before money can be allocated and spent.
Trump vowed on Wednesday he 'will win on the wall' after the White House signaled it was ditching its demand for $5 billion in funding for his signature issue.
'One way or the other, we will win on the Wall!,' Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning as the clock ticked toward Friday's partial government shutdown.
Trump's tweet didn't offer any specifics on what he was looking for in a win and whether he'd want the money appropriated in any stop-gap measure or would be willing to wait and take up the fight again in the new year.
An earlier tweeted suggested he had more thoughts to come with he wrote: 'In our Country, so much money has been poured down the drain, for so many years, but the Democrats fight us like cats and dogs when it comes to spending on Boarder Security (including a Wall) and the Military. We won on the Military, it is being completely rebuilt. We will win...'
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the administration's legal team was looking into whether the White House could redirect funds to build the border wall
Trump is vowing to fight for his wall - but no one knows whether he will use a must-pass spending bill to throw down the guantlet
It's estimated it would cost $5 billion to build the president's border wall
He deleted that tweet and, six minutes later, offered a more succinct tweet: 'In our Country, so much money has been poured down the drain, for so many years, but when it comes to Border Security and the Military, the Democrats fight to the death. We won on the Military, which is being completely rebuilt. One way or the other, we will win on the Wall!'
Lawmakers are scheduled to leave town on Friday and Trump is looking to go Mar-a-Lago for the holidays.
The White House signaled it would be willing to accept less than $5 billion that Trump has been demanding for his wall on Tuesday, amid panic over another ill-timed shutdown.
'We will work with Congress if they will make sure we get a bill passed that provides not just the funding for the wall, but there's a piece of legislation that's been pushed around that Democrats actually voted 26-5 out of committee that provides roughly $26 billion for border security including $1.6 billion for the wall,' Sanders told Fox News. 'That's something that we would be able to support as long as we can couple that with other funding resources.'
The president on Tuesday sidestepped a question on whether he was still willing to shut down the government unless Congress give him the $5 billion.
'We'll see what happens. It's too early to say,' he stated. 'We need border security.'
The White House kicked the can down Pennsylvania Avenue to Congress on Tuesday.
'You know, at this point, the Senate has thrown out a lot of ideas. We're disappointed in the fact that they've yet to actually vote on something and pass something,' Sanders said at the White House press briefing. 'So when they do that, we'll make a determination on whether or not we're going to sign that.'
Most areas of the federal government have already been funded through other appropriations bills. Roughly 25 percent of agencies are operating off of a Continuing Resolution that will technically expire early Saturday morning.
Some 420,000 federal workers, including most law enforcement, would be deemed essential in the course of a shutdown and required to remain on the job. They would receive back pay in the event of a partial government closure, CNN reports.
All other workers would be considered non-essential and sent home on an unpaid leave of absence. They number about 380,000. Congress typically gives them back pay for days missed, costing the government time and money for work that wasn't actually done.
It can take weeks for the money to arrive, especially if the shutdown lasts until Democrats take control of the House the first few days in January, putting a financial squeeze on families over the Christmas holiday.
The Departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, State, Interior, Agriculture, Treasury, Commerce and Justice would be affected.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/12/20/trump-blows-up-republican-bid-to-stop-a-government-shutdown-over-funding-for-his-border-wall/
Main photo article President Donald Trump threw a vote to keep the government open into jeopardy on Thursday as he called the House speaker during a closed-door caucus meeting and suggested he wouldn’t sign a must-pass spending bill if it doesn’t fund his border wall.
The White House has not taken a f...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/12/20/16/7670008-6516379-President_Donald_Trump_threw_a_vote_to_keep_the_government_open_-a-31_1545325012106.jpg
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