Trump Rejects Senate Bill, Sends House GOP Scurrying To Avoid Shutdown

After a “long, productive meeting” with President Trump on Thursday, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said that Trump has decided he will not sign the continuing resolution to keep the government funded through early February because of his “serious concerns” about border security.

“We just had a very long, productive meeting with the President. The President informed us that he will not sign the bill that came over from the Senate last evening because of his legitimate concerns for border security,” Ryan said. “So what we’re going to do is go back to the House and work with our members. We want to keep the government open, but we also want to see an agreement that protects the border.”

Ryan: Trump won't sign continuing resolution pic.twitter.com/HidPpG28zp

— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 20, 2018

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders reiterated House Republicans’ comments in a statement on Thursday, casting the blame for the budget battle on Democrats.

Readout from President Trump’s meeting with Republican House members: pic.twitter.com/QXGkHUrXhL

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 20, 2018

The Senate passed a continuing resolution on Wednesday evening to keep the government open until Feb. 8. Trump initially demanded $5 billion for his wall, but softened on that stance on Tuesday when Sanders said the administration would try to scrounge up funding from other areas, like the military budget.

But after an evening of criticism from the most conservative members of the House — as well as some players in the conservative media realm — Trump apparently changed his mind. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced late Thursday morning that Trump would meet with House Republicans Thursday afternoon, but was only interested in moving further with a spending bill if it included funding for his border wall, tossing the ball back to Congress as the shutdown deadline of Friday approaches.