{"id":192871,"date":"2018-12-07T03:18:42","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T08:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=192871"},"modified":"2018-12-07T03:18:42","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T08:18:42","slug":"pelosi-takes-hard-line-on-paying-for-trumps-border-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/12\/07\/pelosi-takes-hard-line-on-paying-for-trumps-border-wall\/","title":{"rendered":"Pelosi takes hard line on paying for Trump’s border wall"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Her comments came as the House and Senate approved a stopgap bill Thursday to keep the government funded through Dec. 21. The measure, approved by voice votes in near-empty chambers, now goes to the White House. (File Photo<\/a>: Nancy Pelosi\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday rejected the idea of paying for President Donald Trump’s border wall in exchange for helping hundreds of thousands of young immigrants avoid deportation.<\/p>\n

Funding for the wall \u2014 a top Trump priority \u2014 and legal protections for so-called Dreamers, a key Democratic goal, should not be linked, Pelosi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re two different subjects,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her comments came as the House and Senate approved a stopgap bill Thursday to keep the government funded through Dec. 21. The measure, approved by voice votes in near-empty chambers, now goes to the White House.<\/p>\n

Trump has promised to sign the two-week extension to allow for ceremonies this week honouring former President George H.W. Bush, who died Nov. 30. But he wants the next funding package to include at least $5 billion for his proposed wall, something Democrats have rejected. Trump is set to meet Tuesday at the White House with Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.<\/p>\n

Pelosi, who is seeking to become House speaker in January, said the lame-duck Congress should now pass a half-dozen government funding bills that key committees have already agreed on, along with a separate measure funding the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the border. Funding for the homeland agency should address border security and does not necessarily include a wall, Pelosi said.<\/p>\n

Most Democrats consider the wall \u201cimmoral, ineffective and expensive,\u201d Pelosi said, noting that Trump promised during the 2016 campaign that Mexico would pay for it, an idea Mexican leaders have repeatedly rejected.<\/p>\n

Even if Mexico did pay for the wall, \u201cit’s immoral still,\u201d Pelosi said.<\/p>\n

Protecting borders \u201cis a responsibility we honour, but we do so by honouring our values as well,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Schumer said Thursday that a bipartisan Senate plan for $1.6 billion in border security funding does not include money for the 30-foot-high (9-meter-high) concrete wall Trump has envisioned. The money \u201ccan only be used for fencing\u201d and technology that experts say is appropriate and makes sense as a security feature, Schumer said.<\/p>\n

If Republicans object to the proposal because of pressure from Trump, Schumer said lawmakers should follow Pelosi’s advice and approve six appropriations bills and a separate measure extending current funding for Homeland Security.<\/p>\n

Either option would avert a partial government shutdown, which lawmakers from both parties oppose, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one and only way we approach a shutdown is if President Trump refuses both of our proposals and demands $5 billion or more for a border wall,\u201d Schumer said. He called the wall \u201ca nonstarter\u201d for Democrats, who face increasing pressure from outside groups and liberal lawmakers to resist Trump’s continued push for the barrier, which Trump says is needed to stop an \u201cinvasion\u201d of Central American migrants and others from crossing into the country illegally.<\/p>\n

Schumer called the spat over the wall unnecessary, noting that the administration has not spent more than $1 billion approved for border security in the budget year that ended Sept. 30. \u201cThe idea that they haven’t spent last year’s money and they’re demanding such a huge amount this year makes no sense at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby said he prefers to include Homeland Security in an omnibus package containing seven unresolved spending bills for the current budget year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the best route is to keep all seven together and pass them,\u201d the Alabama Republican told reporters Thursday. Lawmakers have \u201cmade a lot of progress\u201d in recent weeks on the seven spending bills. \u201cI’d like to conclude it,\u201d’ he said.<\/p>\n

Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of Republican leadership, said the key question is whether Trump will sign a bill without funding for the wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn’t matter how much appetite there is for a shutdown anywhere else, if he is willing to have a shutdown over this issue,\u201d Blunt said. \u201cHe has given every indication that he would.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Padmananda Rama contributed to this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday rejected the idea of paying for President Donald Trump’s border wall …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":192872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-matthew-daly","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}