The chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus says there could be a government shutdown if money isn’t included in a spending bill for President Trump’s border wall with Mexico.
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the caucus chairman, said Monday that conservatives will block any spending bill that doesn’t include the funding.
He told Breitbart News that “without a doubt” there are “enough conservative members who will not support any funding mechanism that does not include border wall funding.”
{mosads}Meadows said Trump could veto a funding bill if the House passed it without wall funding.
Current government funding runs out in September, and the government would face a shutdown if Trump doesn’t sign a bill passed by Congress by Oct. 1.
“My conversations with the president have led me to believe that there is nothing less than a full and total commitment on his part to only sign into law a funding bill that actually allows for us to start construction of a border wall on our southern border,” Meadows told Breitbart.
He said there is “nothing more critical that has to be funded than funding the border wall.”
The proposal has met resistance from Democrats and some Republicans, particularly those from border districts, who argue it would be an expensive and ineffective way to secure the border.
But Meadows gave two reasons why it should be at the top of Republican funding priorities.
“One is it is a commitment that the president made to the American people and one that he intends on keeping, but the second part of that is for our national security we must secure our borders. And the American people will accept no less,” he said.
Democrats claimed a victory in May after the House passed an omnibus bill that included no funding for the wall.
That bill still allocated $1.5 billion to the Department of Homeland Security for additional border enforcement measures.