Senate

Schumer: ‘Temper tantrum’ won’t give GOP border wall

by Jordain Carney - 12/20/18 12:24 PM ET

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned President Trump and House conservatives that the only option to prevent a partial shutdown is a seven-week stopgap bill, adding that they shouldn’t reject it because of a “temper tantrum” on the border wall.

“With less than two days to go until the appropriations lapse, if we are to avoid a shutdown the House must pass this continuing resolution and President Trump must sign it,” Schumer said from the Senate floor on Thursday.

{mosads}Schumer argued that if Trump rejects the stopgap measure, it would be “indisputable” that he and Republicans would be blamed for a partial government shutdown over the Christmas holidays.

“Vetoing the last train out of the station, a [continuing resolution], would be a doubling down on his responsibility for a Christmas shutdown and every single American would know it,” Schumer said.

House GOP leaders are scrambling to prevent a partial shutdown scheduled to begin on Saturday amid outrage from rank-and-file members that the continuing resolution to keep the government running through Feb. 8 does not include disaster relief or $5 billion in funding for Trump’s proposed border wall.

Senate Republican leadership appeared confident on Wednesday that Trump would ultimately sign a clean stopgap spending bill, and the chamber passed it by a voice vote late Wednesday night.

But conservative pundits and lawmakers have lashed out over the deal and questioned why Trump would sign something that didn’t include additional border wall money.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and other members of the House Freedom Caucus are publicly urging Trump to reject the Senate-passed stopgap bill, which would fund roughly 25 percent of the government through Feb. 8. Trump is scheduled to meet with House Republicans later Thursday.

Schumer lashed out at Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) by name during his floor speech, saying they had no plan that would actually result in Trump getting the border wall money he is asking for.

“Trump’s allies in the House can pound their fists on the table all they want but it’s not going to get a wall. They can, having caught the Trump temper tantrum fever, jump up and down, yell and scream. It’s not going to get a wall,” Schumer said.

“Neither Mr. Meadows or Mr. Jordan have outlined any conceivable plan on how to achieve what they say they want to achieve. I would say to my less frenzied friends in the House, go ask Mr. Jordan and ask Mr. Meadows, what is your plan? What is your end game? What is your path to getting the wall?” Schumer said.

Congressional leadership agreed to punt the funding fight into February after both Democrats and Trump remained far apart over funding for the border wall. House Republicans and Trump initially demanded $5 billion — though the White House signaled this week they were softening that stance.

Republicans offered a deal to Democrats that included $1.6 billion for the border and an additional $1 billion for border and immigration related issues. But Democrats rejected it, arguing the extra money was a “slush fund.”

Schumer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) have pointed to $1.3 billion for the border as their cap in the negotiations and that it should go toward fencing instead of a physical concrete wall.

Schumer warned on Thursday that Democrats “are not budging on the wall” even if Trump rejects the Senate-passed seven-week stopgap bill.

“Let me just walk my friends in the House through it. Democrats are not budging on the wall. We favor smart, effective border security, not a medieval wall. A Trump shut down will not convince a single Democrat to support bilking the American taxpayer for an ineffective, unnecessary and exorbitantly expensive wall,” Schumer said.