When the House of Representatives transfer power to Democrats Jan. 3, in-coming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) faces her biggest challenge: How to reopen the partial government shutdown. Pelsoi didn’t interrupt her Hawaiian vacation to cut a deal with President Donald Trump to reopen the partial government shutdown. Pelosi plans to have the House vote on a bill to reopen the government Thursday. Passing a bill in the Democrat-led House without negotiating with Trump will result in failure pass in the U.S. Senate. Whether it passed or not, Trump would veto the bill without providing at least $2.5 billion in border wall/fence funding. Trump’s new Chief of Staff Mike Mulvaney told Pelosi that Trump was willing to settle for one-half the original border wall funding of at least $5.7 billion, something she and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has ignored.
Pelosi and Schumer think they can do and end run around Trump, refusing to offer him one red nickel for his border wall. When they met with Trump in the White House Dec. 11, both smirked with glee telling the president he wouldn’t get his border wall funding. Before the meeting, Trump had agreed in principle to a continuing budget resolution to keep the government funded through Feb. 2019. Once Chuck and Nancy humiliated Trump on national TV, Trump changed his mind, shutting down the government Dec. 22. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Dec. 30 that the GOP would not give in to Pelosi on border wall funding. Passing a bill to scoot around Trump won’t get Pelosi and Schumer the votes to pass in the U.S. Senate. Giving Trump a fraction of his request for border security hurts no one.
Pelosi and Schumer hope the polls continue to back them stonewalling Trump from getting any border wall funding. When 800,000 federal workers hit the breaking point, they’re not going to have too much sympathy for Democrats refusing to negotiate with the president. Tossing out 800,000 government workers over a measly $2 billion isn’t going to sit well with voters, certainly not with federal employees. Refusing to negotiate to make a political point does nothing to resolve the government shutdown. Pelosi and Schumer don’t want to admit that Trump holds the cards, forcing them to eventually give in. Wanting to hit the ground running when she takes over as Speaker, Pelosi finds herself in a no-win situation, hurting government workers to score political points. Pressure will be heaped on Pelosi and Schumer once Congress resumes fulltime duties Jan. 3.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) won’t let Pelosi’s bill come to the Senate floor for a vote, unless she negotiates with Trump in good faith. Trump has a right as commander-in-chief to request funding for what he believes is U.S. national security, this time the border barrier. Refusing to negotiate isn’t a strategy for Democrats, especially when Trump holds the cards about ending the government shutdown. “Border security and the Wall ‘thing’ and Shutdown is no where Nancy Pelosi wanted to star her tenure as Speaker. Let’s make a deal,” Trump tweeted New Year’s Day. When you consider Trump’s willing to compromise, perhaps by $3 billion, it makes Pelosi and Schumer look unreasonable. Democrats keep saying that Trump said Mexico would “pay for the wall,” something he repeated during the campaign, something not relevant today.
When you consider the continuing budget resolution already allows for $1.3 billion for border fencing and another $300 million for border security, it will take a little over a $1 billion to resolve the dispute and reopen the government. With thousands of migrants streaming across the U.S.-Mexican border from Central America, no one believes that there’s enough border security. Adding another billion dollars to reopen government puts the onus on Pelosi and Schumer to do something other than scoring political points. Letting federal workers squirm doesn’t do Democrats any good, especially when there’s an easy-and-cheap fix, simply giving Trump around a $1 billion to resolve the stalemate. Looking ahead to Jan. 3, Pelosi and Schumer face some tough choices: Either compromise with Trump or continue to wreak havoc on 800,000 federal workers currently furloughed or unpaid.
Getting ready to fish-or-cut-bait, Pelosi and Schumer have run out of options to reopen the government. Passing bills that have no chance of passing in the Senate only postpones the agony for federal workers. What Democrats detest is that Trump holds the cards and will beat them when they’re forced to cough up the measly $ billion or so to reopen government. With Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announcing her exploratory committee yesterday, Democrats don’t want to create more bad publicity, especially about keeping the government shutdown. Voters expect both parties to compromise for the good of the nation. Whether Pelosi and Schumer think spending on border security is stupid or not, most voters—even those that despise Trump—agree that something must be done to shore up the porous U.S.-Mexican border. Compromising is the only way going forward.
