House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) criticized President Trump’s border wall as the “worst way to protect the border” and said there’s nothing she would trade for its funding, as Congress prepares for a face-off over Trump’s campaign promise.
“It happens to be like a manhood issue for the president, building a wall, and I’m not interested in that,” she said during a discussion at Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, according to The Washington Post and other outlets. “We can’t allow him to say we’re not interested in protecting the border. … That isn’t the only way to protect the border. In fact, it’s probably the worst way to protect the border.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) plan to make good on their promise to Trump in December: to battle it out with Democrats and possibly allow for a mini-shutdown over Trump’s wall.
Trump has said he only agreed to sign a government spending bill early in the fall that didn’t include wall funding because he didn’t want a shutdown to harm Republicans chances in the midterms.