Today on Twitter (where else) the president said he would be willing to shut down the federal government this October were Democrats don’t support his immigration reforms, including money for an insane, pointless border wall.
Previously, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on a Kentucky radio interview that the shut down would not happen.
Last week, Trump met with McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan to discuss his fall legislative agenda. According to the AP:
Ryan said after the meeting: “The president’s willing to be patient to make sure that we get what we need so that we can get that done.” He added that money for the wall was “not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”
Congress has already allocated some money to the border wall, which would almost certainly not prevent migrants from crossing the border, but would definitely screw up the environment and lead to more migrant deaths. Trump has requested $25 billion for the wall, a good number to remember when people ask “how we would pay” for benefits like universal health care or free college. A Republican spending bill released this month would allocate $5 billion to the wall.
Democratic representatives Nita Lowey and Lucille Roybal-Allard said the $5 billion “only further enables this administration’s obsession with cruel attacks on immigrants,” according to AP.
Were Congress unable to pass the bill, the shutdown would happen the first week of October. Government shutdowns disproportionately harm poor people and veterans. Perhaps not a great group to piss off one month before the election that could give Democrats control of Congress.