Border Wall Fight Likely Pushed to After Midterms
Securing funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall once again seems to be getting punted further down the road by congressional leadership.
During a radio interview with WHAS on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border will likely not make it into the next funding legislation, which must be passed by the end of September in order to avoid another government shutdown.
When directly asked if the funding of the border wall would have to wait until after midterm elections, the Republican senator replied “probably,” noting that it is “something [Democrats and Republicans] do have a disagreement on.”
“But most of the government will be covered and then at the end of the year, if we can’t reach an agreement on that, we’ll do what’s called a ‘continuing resolution’ for that little portion of the government spending that’s left unpassed in individual bills,” McConnell added.
McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan met with Trump on Wednesday to discuss the funding legislation. The following day, Ryan also indicated the wall funding looked unlikely to be included in the current legislation.
“The president’s willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so we can get that done,” Ryan said. But he further stated that funding the border wall was “not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”
The House Appropriations Committee bill included $5 billion in border wall funding, while the Senate Appropriations Committee bill included only $1.6 billion, reported The Hill. With only a 51-49 majority in the Senate, Democratic support is needed to pass the bill. Democrats have called $5 billion a “non-starter.”
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