Congress just passed a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, which was scheduled to start on Friday absent any bill being approved.
Axios reports: “Both houses of Congress passed a continuing resolution on Thursday to push the government shutdown deadline to Dec. 21.”
The Senate has now passed the short-term funding bill. https://t.co/5i9xlk9uGP
— Axios (@axios) December 6, 2018
There was one thing visibly absent from the spending bill: funding for the border wall along the U.S.-Mexico divide. The wall is a key component of Trump’s platform, and a huge reason for his victory in 2016. Trump is expected to sign it.
President Trump was ready to demand border wall funding in exchange for signing a spending bill into law. Unfortunately, the death of former President George H.W. Bush put the demand temporarily on hold, as remembrance activities took up the nation’s attention this week.
Still, President Trump is reportedly still going to push for the wall in two weeks when the government will once again need a fresh spending bill to remain open. (RELATED: Trump Vows to Halt Illegal Immigration Despite Democrat Reluctance to Fund Border Wall.)
Trump needs to deliver on the wall
The problem is, President Trump has had nearly two years with a Republican-controlled Congress to get funding for the border wall. Yet none has materialized. This is the last spending bill he’ll have to sign under a Republican Congress during his first term. Going forward, Democrats control the House, and the purse strings. If Trump thinks he’s going to wrangle wall funding out of rabidly progressive House Democrat caucus, he has another thing coming.
Trump must know by now that not getting wall funding means not getting elected in 2020. (RELATED: President Donald Trump Needs to Put Up or Shut Up on Immigration.)
December 21st may be one of the defining days of the Trump presidency. He has everything here: a Republican-controlled Congress, many outgoing congressmen who can afford a tough vote, and the biggest holiday of the year and its attendant pressure for members to get out of Washington.
This is it. Trump gets the wall funding in two weeks, or our border will remain as porous as water in a swimming pool.
Get it done, Trump.
