As one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the Senate, Nevada's Dean Heller is trying to sidle away from President Trump when it comes to such issues as Trump's pardoning of former Maricopa County, Arizona, sheriff Joe Arpaio and his threat to shut down the government in order to fund his wall between the U.S. and Mexico border.
"I don't like shutting down the government," Heller said Monday during an interview with NBC News. "There will be no excuses and nobody else's fault but the Republican Party if this government does shut down." Heller said he is a strong supporter of border security, but argued that it doesn't make sense for there to be a physical wall along the entire border and it should be up to the Department of Homeland Security to decide what works best. On Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt after disregarding a judge's order to stop detaining people on suspicion of being undocumented, Heller said he doesn't believe "anybody's above the law. I do believe the courts ought to run its course and let the system work its way through this. But I just don't believe anybody's above the law."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
