Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) is pushing against President Trump’s reported demand for a military parade and professed willingness to allow a government shutdown, saying in a tweet that issues, like border security and wage growth, should be priorities.
“No shutdowns, no parades,” Coffman wrote on Wednesday. “We need to focus on what moves us forward — cleaning up the #VA, fixing #DACA, securing our borders, and growing wages.”
Coffman’s tweet came after media reports that top Pentagon officials, acting on a request from Trump, are in the early stages of planning for a military parade in Washington.
{mosads}The president has long expressed interest in the idea of such a display. But, according to a Washington Post report, those aspirations took on a more concrete form last month when Trump asked that military officials explore the idea.
Trump also said this week that he would “love to see” a government shutdown if Democratic lawmakers refuse to take up his immigration proposal.
Lawmakers have until midnight on Thursday to pass a spending deal or face another shutdown — the second in a matter of weeks.
Senate leaders struck a long-term spending deal on Wednesday, one that would increase funding for both the military and domestic programs over the next two years and would move the government away from the short-term spending bills that have led to repeated concerns about government shutdowns.
Daniel Bucheli, a spokesman for Coffman, told The Denver Post on Thursday that the congressman’s tweet took aim at the idea that a government shutdown would be, in any way, beneficial.
“The tweet was in reference to any notion, be it from the president or party leaders, that a shutdown would be productive for the American people,” Bucheli said.