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Trump calls for shutdown talks with Congress leaders
WASHINGTON, Jan 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday
invited Republican and Democratic leaders from Congress for a meeting to seek
an end to the federal government shutdown now in its second week.
The two sides have appeared at an impasse, with Trump’s Democratic foes
seeking a vote on spending bills to keep the government open — without
addressing the hot-button issue of border wall funding — as soon as they
take control of the House of Representatives, on Thursday.
But the legislation’s future appears uncertain, as it does not contain
funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border, as demanded by Trump. But
Trump appeared to strike a more conciliatory tone seeking to bring Democrats
to the table after acerbic remarks over the weekend.
“Border Security and the Wall ‘thing’ and Shutdown is not where Nancy
Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker! Let’s make a deal?” he tweeted.
Pelosi is set to become House speaker on Thursday.
At the same time, Trump characterized their opposition to the wall as
embracing “Open Borders and all of the crime and drugs that Open Borders
bring!” Trump has invited Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress to
the White House for a border security briefing from senior Department of
Homeland Security officials on Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Sarah
Sanders said in a statement Tuesday evening. Trump, she added, “remains
committed to reaching an agreement that both reopens the government and keeps
Americans safe.”
Democrats say the wall idea — one of the president’s key election campaign
platforms — is a distraction from more complicated immigration problems and
a tool for Trump to whip up support among his conservative base.
They are proposing to pass most administrative budgets lasting through
September 30, while only financing until February 8 the thornier budget of
the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees border security.
Trump expressed outrage at the idea.
“The Democrats, much as I suspected, have allocated no money for a new
Wall. So imaginative! The problem is, without a Wall there can be no real
Border Security – and our Country must finally have a Strong and Secure
Southern Border!” he wrote on Twitter.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1054 hrs