With the partial shutdown of the federal government in its third week, President Donald Trump and Democratic leadership remain at odds over funding for construction of a wall along the southern border.
After weekend negotiations between the administration and Congress, the two sides appeared to still be far apart. Trump appears to have become more entrenched in his demand for the wall in comments to reporters Sunday.
“It’s a very important battle to win,” he said, per a pool report.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., whose staffers have been involved with negotiations with the White House, said in an interview Sunday he believes talks have been impeded because it’s not clear what the president will commit to. Leahy, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, pointed out that initially Trump said he would support short-term spending to avert a shutdown in December. The president later changed his stance.
“My impression is that they really can’t do anything because they don’t know whether Trump will keep the same position more than a couple hours,” Leahy said.
Late last week, Trump asserted that he could circumvent Congress to build the wall by declaring a national emergency, which would give the president enhanced powers. Trump again floated the idea of a national emergency declaration Sunday in remarks to reporters.
“I may decide a national emergency depending on what happens over the next few days,” the president said, per a pool report.
But many, including Leahy, doubt whether Trump could use that strategy.
Based on his conversations with numerous lawyers, Leahy said it is “highly questionable” whether the president could use that strategy.
“We hope that he’s just doing as he often does with his tweets — say one thing and finally do something else because it is hard to see how this falls into the national emergency exception,” Leahy said.
Leahy said the situation along the U.S.-Mexico border likely falls short of criteria for a national emergency, pointing to decreasing numbers of border apprehensions.
“The only national emergency here is the president’s senseless and costly shutdown,” Leahy said. “There’s certainly not a national emergency on the southern border.”
Throughout the negotiations, Trump has pushed for a $5.7 billion appropriation for construction of a wall. Leahy said he does not understand how the president came up with that figure.
“It’s almost like it was made up,” Leahy said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly plans to begin bringing up individual appropriations bills in the House over coming week and sending them to the Senate.
Leahy believes the funding bills would “easily” pass the Senate. But Leahy expects Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would not bring the bills up on the floor.
“Frankly I’d be delighted to see it,” Leahy said. “But if McConnell doesn’t stand up to (Trump), then they won’t be voted on in the Senate.”
The House, newly under Democratic leadership, already has sent the Senate bills that would reopen the government without providing funding for construction of a wall. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., voted for both measures.
Meanwhile, Welch has asked that his pay be withheld until the shutdown is over, as first reported by Seven Days.
“Due to the lapse in appropriations for numerous federal departments and agencies, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are working without pay or furloughed without pay,” Welch wrote in a Jan. 3 letter to the chief administrative officer of the House.
“Please withhold my pay for the duration of the partial government shutdown that began on December 22, 2018,” he wrote.
Leahy is not opting to do the same.
“If it would make anybody happy I could wait and cash them after they open up, but I don’t know what difference that makes,” Leahy said. “What I want to do is get it open for all those people who are not being paid and should be paid because they’re working.”
Spokespeople for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., did not respond to a request for an interview about the shutdown Sunday. Sanders has been advocating for an end to the shutdown on social media, and he has questioned the president’s dedication to national security concerns.
If President Trump is really concerned about national security then why isn’t he paying employees at the FBI, TSA and other security agencies who work every day to protect this country?
President Trump. End your shutdown of the government. Pay federal employees.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 5, 2019
On Saturday, Sanders praised two Republican senators, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine, who both broke with Senate party leadership to encourage a resolution.
Congratulations to Republican Senators Cory Gardner and Susan Collins for understanding that 800,000 federal employees must be paid. If Leader McConnell allows the Senate to vote, we can end the government shut down now.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 5, 2019
