Trump: Another shutdown is 'certainly an option'
In an interview Sunday, President Trump told The Wall Street Journal he does not think lawmakers will be able to come up with a deal to fund a border wall, and another shutdown is "certainly an option."
A committee of seven senators and 10 House members are trying to reach an agreement on border security, and when asked if he believes they'll be able to come up with a deal before the next government-funding lapse in mid-February, Trump responded, "I personally think it's less than 50-50, but you have a lot of very good people on that board." He added that he doubts he would sign any bill that does not give him at least $5.7 billion for the border wall he's long promised, and he suggested he will use emergency powers if necessary to get a barrier up.
The longest government shutdown in U.S. history ended on Friday, and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will go back to work on Monday. In late December, Trump refused to sign any spending bills that did not give him $5.7 billion for the wall, leading to the shutdown; when he finally agreed to reopen the government, the deal did not include any wall funding.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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