White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that President Donald Trump expected Congress to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government this week, despite the President’s near daily projections of a government shutdown.
Funding for the federal government runs out Friday at midnight.
But Sanders warned Democrats that Trump and Republicans in Congress would not hold national security funds “hostage for irresponsible demands.”
“The President and the Republicans in the House and Senate are eager to pass a bill fully funding the federal government and the military,” she said.
Congressional leadership of both parties is scheduled to meet with the President Thursday. Trump may need Democratic votes to fund the government, and some Democrats have argued for opposing any government funding bill unless protections are included for former DACA recipients. The Obama-era program, which Trump ended in September, protected qualified young undocumented immigrants from immediate deportation.
On that point, Sanders said that Trump “wants to make sure that we have responsible immigration reform, including a border wall and other things that we’ve laid out in those priorities and those principles and that’s something that would have to be part of that discussion.”
Asked about the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which covers nearly 9 million children in low income families, and for which Congress allowed funding to expire September, Sanders was evasive.
“I haven’t had that specific conversation with him, but I do know that we want to fully fund the government,” she said, referring to Trump. “Beyond that, I’m not going to get into any more details before their meeting today.”
Trump, for his part, has seemed almost committed to provoking a shut down stand-off.
He said Wednesday that a shut down “could happen,” and he has reportedly told friends that he would benefit from one, simply by blaming Democrats. “I see no deal!” he said in late November, blaming Democrats.
Meeting with “Chuck and Nancy” today about keeping government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don’t see a deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2017
Of course they are, because 1) they want to fund it at a disastrously low level; 2) if the government shuts down they will have to take time from steamrolling their truly horrible tax deform through, and they are afraid that more and more people are waking up to how bad it truly is.
“The President and the Republicans in the House and Senate are eager to pass a bill fully funding the federal government and the military as long as the President of the United States doesnt have to pay for any of it."
I’m sure you do want to fund the government. I said that yesterday. But it’s on you. Personally I recall the two times the GOP shut the government down when Obama was in office. So excuse me and most everyone else in America if we don’t give a shit what you want.
He just wants the Trump Inc slush fund to keep pouring into the Maralago and other Trump resort coffers.