Pelosi, Schumer demand Trump 'separate the shutdown' from border security

In their response to President Trump's address on border security, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said it is time for him to "stop manufacturing crises and reopen the government."

Women and children at the southern border are "not a security threat, they are a humanitarian challenge," Pelosi said, and there are several steps that can be taken to "secure our borders while honoring our values." That includes building new infrastructure and roads, installing technology to scan cars as they cross the border, and "hiring personnel to facilitate trade and immigration at the border."

By shutting down the government over border wall funding, Trump has "chosen to hold hostage critical services for the health, safety, and wellbeing of the American people and withhold the paychecks of 800,000 innocent workers across the nation," Pelosi said. Schumer called on Trump to "separate the shutdown from arguments over border security," and let lawmakers pass "bipartisan legislation to reopen the government while allowing debate over border security to continue."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up

Trump is "hurting millions of Americans over a policy difference," Schumer said, before calling him out for making the address from the Oval Office. "Most presidents have used Oval Office addresses for noble purposes," he said. "This president just used the backdrop of the Oval Office to manufacture a crisis, stoke fear, and divert attention from turmoil in his administration."