Schumer warns Trump: Don't spark shutdown fight over border wall

quote:

---

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is ripping President Trump for threatening to shut down the government over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

“If the President pursues this path, against the wishes of both Republicans and Democrats, as well as the majority of the American people, he will be heading towards a government shutdown which nobody will like and which won’t accomplish anything," Schumer said in a statement on Wednesday.

Trump signaled during a Tuesday night rally in Phoenix that he is willing to shut down the government to try to force Congress to pass funding for a border wall, one of his main campaign promises.

"Build that wall. Now, the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it, but believe me — if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," Trump said.

---

quote:

---

Including funds for a physical wall is considered a nonstarter for Democrats, whose votes will be needed to get a government spending bill through the Senate.

Some Republicans, particularly from states along the southern border, have also voiced skepticism that a stand-alone wall is the right approach.

The fight over Trump's border wall is expected to come to a head in September, when lawmakers face an end-of-the-month deadline to fund the government and avoid a shutdown.

If Congress and the White House can't get a deal — or pass a short-term spending bill known as a continuing resolution (CR) — by Oct. 1, the government will shut down.

The House included money for the wall in a national security-related funding bill they passed before the August recess, but that bill is considered dead on arrival in the Senate.

The Trump administration initially pushed for money for the border wall in a short-term funding bill passed in May, but backed down from the threat. Instead, the legislation included money for border security and a boost in defense spending.

---