Signaling to Democrats he’s willing to compromise on his border wall, 72-year-old President Donald Trump indicated he’d accept a steel-slat fence as opposed to a concrete wall. Democrats don’t find that offer remotely related to a compromise, demanding that Trump reopen the government first before any discussion about funding for border security. Why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) refuse to compromise on Trump’s $5.6 billion demand for border security is anyone’s guess. When former President Barack Obama was president Congress allocated billions in border fence construction. Trump’s request infuriates Democrats who insist now that a “border wall” is “immoral, inefficient or medieval.” Showing no willingness to compromise, both sides have kept the government partially shutdown since Dec. 22, 2018.
Trump’s weekend offer to agree to use funding for a steel-slat fence isn’t likely to play well to Pelosi and Schumer’s liberal base, dead set against giving Trump one penny for border security. With all the headlines about caravans and the extreme hardship of refugees on the U.S.-Mexico border, you’d think spending on more border security would be a top priority for both political parties. Trump decided to reject a continuing budget resolution Dec. 22,2018 after meeting Dec. 11, 2018 with Pelosi and Schumer in the Oval Office. Both delighted in getting a rise out of Trump on national TV, telling the president there’s no money for his border wall. When Trump thought about the humiliation, he decided to partially shutter the government Dec. 22, 2018, insisting that Democrats must show a good faith effort to negotiate on border security or expect to keep the government shutdown indefinitely.
Pelosi and Schumer insisted in meeting with Trump Jan. 4 that no discussions could take place about border security without reopening the government. When you consider the government would be opened immediately, with Trump signing the continuing budget resolution, if Democrats gave him only 50% of his $5.6 billion request, it makes you wonder whether Democrats want to reopen the government. Threre’s nothing that says Democrats can’t negotiate on border security with Trump first, then reopen the government. With 800,000 federal workers’ lives hanging in the balance, you’d think that a couple billion dollars would not be a deal breaker, except for the fact that Democrats would be forced to compromise. Offering to use any funds for a steel-slat border fence, Trump hoped to show his flexibility. Pelosi and Schumer want to give Trump nothing for border security.
When asked Friday by ABC News reporter Terry Moran whether he could allocate the funds needed for border security by an emergency declaration, Trump admitted he’d though of it, but prefers to go the old fashion way of negotiation. Trump knows, since he wrote the 1987 “Art of the Deal,” that negotiation is a two-way street. Democrats haven’t yet figured out that the border wall or fence isn’t worth shutting down the federal government. Insisting on a steel-slat fence would work with Trump if Democrats chose to negotiate. White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told NBC’s “Meet the Press” today that he hoped a steel-slat fence would be positively received by Democrats. Mulvaney knows that Pelosi and Schumer have insisted that the government be opened up first before any negotiation on border security. Time is running out on 800,000 government workers.
House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) offered a glimpse of hope saying he would discuss Trump’s latest compromise to give up on a concrete border wall. “”It’ll be discussed,” he told NBC News. “If we don’t find a solution, it’s going to go on for a long time. There’s not going to be any b en right here,” Trump said, insisting that Democrats take border security funding seriously before any resolution of the government shutdown. With both sides digging in, it requires a federal mediator to resolve the substantive issues and reopen the government. Mulvaney hinted that there’s room for a deal on the so-called “Dreamers,” children of illegal immigrants, not born in the U.S. but brought to the country without documentation. No one in the media has asked Democrats why they can’t negotiate with the White House in good faith. Trump’s willing to accept less cash and give in on the Dreamers.
If Pelosi, Schumer and Trump can’t agree to compromise, then it’s time to appoint a federal mediator to fashion a compromise. Fresh off winning the House back Nov. 8, Democrats look only to confrontation with Trump, not willing to compromise to reopen the government. At some point federal workers will realize they’ve been sold down the river by Democrats for political purposes. Giving Trump 50% of his demand to end the government shutdown seems preferable than keeping the shutdown hurting so many federal workers. “It is not a sign of weakness to try to figure out a middle ground and I think that both sides need to indicate a willingness to listen and to compromise,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine.) told NBC News. Collins prefers reopening the government but recognizes that both sides need to come to the table and compromise for the good of the country.
