Even GOP wall supporters are skeptical of Trump's possible emergency order gambit
Republicans aren't quite getting behind Democratic plans to reopen the government, but they're starting to turn on President Trump's alternative.
Trump made a 10-minute case for his border wall Tuesday night, surprisingly not following through on his threat to declare a national emergency to build it. Yet as that speech approached and in the hours after, congressional Republicans expressed their growing disenchantment with Trump's whole charade, The Washington Post reports.
When Democrats took over the House last week, they passed two spending bills to fund homeland security through Feb. 8 and the rest of the government through Sept. 30 — with the help of a few GOP lawmakers. One of these defectors, Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), represents a border town and told the Post on Tuesday that "shutting down the government is never a good idea." He went on to slam Trump's national emergency ploy as a "gross abuse of power" on CNN after Trump's speech. Rep. Roger Williams (R-Tex.) said there are "better ways" than a national emergency to get a wall. "I don't support that," he said.
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In the Senate, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she's "amenable" to passing "appropriations bills that have concluded some time ago," such as Interior Department or IRS funding measures, per CNN. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said he's still backing Trump right now, but added "there's a time when that [support] may run out." Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who's known for crossing the aisle, told CNN she'd support dividing up the spending bill like Murkowski described. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he'd "potentially" do the same.
Regardless of Republican support, any Senate-passed bill will have to be signed by the president to take effect. And while Democrats show no signs of bending to Trump's $5.7 billion demand for border wall funding, Trump hasn't indicated he'll compromise either.
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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
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