Senate

Schumer: Trump’s ‘destructive two-week temper tantrum’ forced shutdown

by Jordain Carney - 12/22/18 1:44 PM ET

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) blasted President Trump on Saturday, arguing his “temper tantrum” sparked the partial government shutdown and telling the president to back down on the border wall fight.

“We arrived at this moment because President Trump has been on a destructive two-week temper tantrum demanding the American taxpayer pony up for an expensive and ineffective border wall,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.

Schumer’s comments come as lawmakers grapple with Trump’s demand for border wall funding. Lawmakers are attempting to find a path forward Saturday after roughly 25 percent of the federal government shut down starting at midnight.{mosads}

Though congressional leadership and Trump pledged to keep talking about a potential solution, there are no signs they are closer to a deal, with both sides blaming each other for the third shutdown in a year.

Trump also appeared to dig in on Saturday, having lunch with a group of conservative House Republicans who have backed his demands for border wall funding.

Schumer added Saturday that in order to reopen the government Trump “must abandon the wall, plain and simple.”

“The Senate’s not interested in swindling the American taxpayer for an unnecessary and wasteful policy,” Schumer added. “The wall is President Trump’s bone to the hard-right people.”

Congress was unable to resolve the border fight before the midnight Friday deadline. In a sign that a deal wasn’t close, both the House and Senate adjourned hours before the deadline, effectively ensuring that the shutdown would begin Saturday.

The Senate passed a seven-week stopgap bill on Wednesday; senators were confident at the time that Trump would sign the deal. But the president reversed course and told House lawmakers that he wouldn’t sign anything without money for his border wall.

House Republicans, with Trump’s blessing, passed a seven-week bill that included a boost of $5.7 billion for the border.

But the bill struggled to gain a majority in the Senate, only advancing because Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) flipped his vote, allowing Vice President Pence to break a tie, after leadership agreed to continue negotiations.

Tags Chuck Schumer Donald Trump Jeff Flake