GOP rep says Trump ‘posturing’ in government shutdown threat

A GOP lawmaker said Tuesday that President Trump’s threat to shut down the government was merely political “posturing.”

Trump had issued the threat on Sunday, citing frustration with Congress’s inability to reach a deal over immigration reform and provide funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. He doubled down on the threat on Monday but would not say if he would veto a spending bill in September unless it included “full” funding for a border wall.

{mosads}Rep. Scott Taylor (R-Va.) told CNN’s “New Day” that he would “fight” against any move from the administration to tie reauthorizing funding for the federal government to Trump’s signature border security proposal.

“I kind of see it as posturing, to be honest with you,” Taylor told anchor Alisyn Camerota. “I’ve fought against the government shutdown last time over the DREAM Act. I’ll fight against it this time as well.”

Taylor, whose Northern Virginia district represents many federal employees who work in and around Washington, D.C., told CNN that a shutdown would adversely affect his constituents.

“As you can see here in Virginia Beach, we have more military than any congressional district in the nation,” Taylor added. “It would affect the military, our National Guard, our federal workers, government contractors. It’s an irresponsible thing to do, I think, so I do not support it.” 

An administration official told The Wall Street Journal that Trump privately agreed with congressional Republicans to delay the fight over funding for his border wall until after the November midterm elections, despite his shutdown treat.

The administration has faced sharp public criticism in recent weeks over the separation of families apprehended for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump has sought to force Congress to come up with a new policy for family separations, but relented and signing an executive order last month ending the practice.