As lawmakers meet to negotiate border wall funding before the three-week spending agreement that ended the partial government shutdown runs out, President Trump took aim at Democrats over border security.
“If you believe news reports, they are not offering much for the Wall. They look to be making this a campaign issue,” he wrote on Twitter. “The Wall will get built one way or the other!”
The Democrats just don’t seem to want Border Security. They are fighting Border Agents recommendations. If you believe news reports, they are not offering much for the Wall. They look to be making this a campaign issue. The Wall will get built one way or the other!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2019
Trump and congressional Democrats’ fight over border security funding led to the 35-day partial government shutdown that left 800,000 federal employees without a paycheck, either furloughed or working without pay, from Dec. 22.
At issue was $5.7 billion for a border wall, one of Trump’s signature campaign promises. He had scuttled a December spending deal that would have funded the government without the full amount for the barrier between the U.S. and Mexico at the southern border.
Negotiators are said to be close to an agreement on border security that would include new technology, additional Border Patrol agents, and fencing, though the dollar amount for the wall is expected to fall short of the original $5.7 billion.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers were invited to Camp David this weekend to hash out a budget deal that would keep the government open after the three-week continuing resolution approved in January runs out Feb. 15.
