Chances of a partial government shutdown increased Thursday after the White House said President Trump does not want to move forward with a bill that would avoid a shutdown without border security and later, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said Trump had informed House Republican leadership he would not sign the bill passed by the Senate.
“At this moment, the President does not want to go further without border security, which includes steel slats or a wall,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “The President is continuing to weigh his options.”
After a meeting with House Republican leaders early Thursday afternoon, Paul Ryan said Trump had told them he would not sign the bill “because of his legitimate concerns for border security.” Ryan said they would go back to the House and continue to work with members there.
As House Republicans struggled to find the votes to pass the legislation ahead of a midnight Friday deadline, Trump started blaming GOP leaders for failing to deliver on the $5 billion he had demanded for the border wall. Ryan had promised a “big fight” after the midterm elections, but as Republicans lost House control, negotiations over the year-end spending bill have largely been between Trump and Democrats.
The temporary funding bill would keep government running to Feb. 8, but some House Republicans say it’s better to fight for the border wall now, before they relinquish their majority to Democrats in the new year. Facing enormous criticism from high-profile conservative media figures, they don’t want to leave town without one last fight over the border wall.
The White House had previously indicated that Trump was open to reviewing whatever Congress could send him. But the president did not immediately weigh in on the short-term spending plan, which would fund government past Friday’s deadline to Feb. 8. The Senate passed the bill Wednesday.
At issue in the current fight is money for nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks and forests.
Reporting and writing from The Associated Press was used in this report.
This report will be updated.
Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press