Republicans still refuse funding for Trump's border wall
The same Republican lawmakers who rushed through the tax bill Trump wanted, confirmed his first Supreme Court pick and are fighting to defend his second, and have remained largely deferential amid multiple scandals, have taken a far different approach when it comes to one of Trump’s most memorable campaign promises — deeming the wall to be impractical, unrealistic and too costly.
“People can climb over the wall or go under the wall or through the wall. We’ve seen that in different places,” said Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.), the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, explaining why a system of technology, infrastructure and personnel is preferable to a physical wall. “If it’s just unattended without sensors, without technology, without people, then it won’t work.”
Another powerful Republican, the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman, Sen. Richard C. Shelby (Ala.), said he told Trump that funding a 2,000-mile-long wall could jeopardize money for the military and other programs.
“Some things are reachable and some things aren’t,” Shelby said he told Trump. “I’m committed to securing the borders, whatever it takes in this country; it’s something we haven’t done. But I’m also committed to funding the government.” |
