A government shutdown is not what the Trump administration wants, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney told Chris Wallace in a conversation on Fox News Sunday. A shutdown will occur on Friday, April 28, if Congress cannot pass a spending package by that date.
"President Trump has talked about a number of items that he would like to see in this government funding bill," Wallace said, alluding to the White House's Thursday demand that any spending package include money for President Trump's southern border wall. "Which are so important that he's willing to see the government shut down if he doesn't get them?"
"I don't think anybody is trying to get to a shutdown," Mulvaney replied. "Shutdown is not a desired end. It's not a tool. It's not something that we want to have." Still he added, the White House wants "our priorities funded and one of the biggest priorities during the campaign was border security, keeping Americans safe and part of that was a border wall."
Also on Sunday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an ABC interview and President Trump on Twitter both reaffirmed Trump's campaign pledge that Mexico (or perhaps Mexicans, since the plausibility of the Mexican government cutting a check is miniscule) will pay for the wall eventually:
Watch Mulvaney's full interview below. Bonnie Kristian