Donald Trump climbs down from his US$5billion border wall demand, but Democrats spurn new offer and government shutdown still looms
- Donald Trump has changed his tune since saying last week that he would be ‘proud’ to shut down the US government if funding for his border wall was denied
- Republicans feared they would be blamed for a shutdown, prompting a new budget proposal and a reversal from the White House
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday retreated from his demand for US$5 billion to build a border wall as congressional Republicans manoeuvred to avoid a partial government shutdown before funding expires at the end of Friday.
But Democrats immediately rejected Republicans’ follow-up offer, leaving the two sides still at impasse as hundreds of thousands of federal workers await word on whether they will be sent home without pay just before Christmas.
The new border funding offer from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, calls on Congress to pass a US$1.6 billion homeland security spending bill that was crafted earlier this year in a bipartisan Senate compromise.
Under the offer, Congress would also reprogram US$1 billion in unspent funds that Trump could use on his immigration policies. Republican West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito, who oversees the panel in charge of homeland security funding, said the reprogrammed money would not be able to be used for a physical wall but could be spent on other border security measures.
Trump accused of ‘temper tantrum’ after arguing with Pelosi and Schumer over Mexico border wall
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, told McConnell on Tuesday that Democrats would not accept the deal, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, criticised the plan to reprogram the funds.