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Dems' New Year's resolution: Stiff Trump on the wall and reopen the government
Dems’ New Year’s resolution: Stiff Trump on the wall and reopen the government
Democratic leaders think the president is playing a losing hand and will be under pressure to relent.
By RACHAEL BADE and JOHN BRESNAHAN
12/27/2018 07:30 PM EST
House Democrats — increasingly convinced they’re winning the shutdown fight with President Donald Trump — are plotting ways to reopen the government while denying the president even a penny more for his border wall when they take power Jan. 3.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her top lieutenants are considering several options that would refuse Trump the $5 billion he’s demanded for the wall and send hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal employees back to work, according to senior Democratic sources.
While the strategy is fluid, House Democrats hope to pass a funding bill shortly after members are sworn in. They believe that would put pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to follow suit. And they’re confident that their political leverage will only increase the longer the shutdown lasts — a notion that some GOP leaders privately agree with.
Indeed, the specter of a lengthy shutdown could hurt Trump’s already damaged image more than it would Democrats — especially because he claimed ownership of the crisis two weeks ago. Democrats believe the shutdown battle — combined with the volatility in financial markets and special counsel Robert Mueller closing in on Trump — exacerbates the appearance of a cornered president acting out of his own political self-interest instead of the needs of the American public.
“We want ... the government open, and my hope is we can get it opened before Jan. 3,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the incoming Rules Committee chairman. “If not, one of the first things we’ll do will be to move to pass legislation to reopen the government. And the president can decide whether he wants to sign it or not.”
“I believe Democrats are going to move [to end the shutdown] on Jan. 3,” added Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat whose district includes thousands of federal employees. “It’s got to be the first item of business.”
“I believe Democrats are going to move [to end the shutdown] on Jan. 3,” added Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat whose district includes thousands of federal employees. “It’s got to be the first item of business.”
more...
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/27/democrats-government-shutdown-2018-1076466