Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that “we have a problem” if President Trump is “against governance.”
Pelosi made the comments on “CBS Sunday Morning” as the federal government remains in the midst of a partial government shutdown that is now in its third week.
{mosads}”If the president of the United States is against governance and doesn’t care — whether people’s needs are met or that public employees are paid or that we can have a legitimate discussion — then we have a problem and we have to take it to the American people,” Pelosi said.
Trump and Republican lawmakers have been at odds with Democrats over Trump’s demand for $5 billion in funding for a wall along the southern border.
There have been few signs of the two sides coming closer to an agreement as the shutdown enters another week, with Trump saying he won’t sign a bill that doesn’t include wall funding and Democrats pledging not to agree to fund the wall.
During a meeting with lawmakers last week meant to negotiate the shutdown, Trump threatened to keep the government partially closed for months or even years.
Pelosi, during her “CBS Sunday Morning” interview, said the purpose of the meeting “was to open up government” but added that Trump didn’t seem interested in doing so.
“The impression you get from the president that he would like to not only close government, build a wall, but also abolish Congress so the only voice that mattered was his own,” she said.