Trump threatens to veto spending bill over DACA, border wall funding
White House officials had said Trump would sign the measure before the midnight deadline.
President Donald Trump on Friday morning threatened to veto a freshly passed government spending deal — prompting renewed concerns of yet another government shutdown — because the measure doesn't adequately fund his desired border wall or protect recipients of the DACA program his administration ended.
"I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded," Trump tweeted Friday morning.
The 53-word warning contradicts assurances from high-ranking White House officials just a day earlier, who had left no doubt Trump would sign the measure before the government funding deadline.
"Let's cut right to the chase. Is the president going to sign the bill? The answer is yes," Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney told reporters at the White House. "Why? Because it funds his priorities,” he added."
Vice President Mike Pence, at a tax policy event in New Hampshire, said the bill funds several of theadministration’s priorities, including funding for the border wall, school safety, the opioid crisis and infrastructure.
"It’s filled with one example after another that proves when it comes to President Trump, it’s promises made, promises kept," he said.
The White House even published a Statement of Administration Policy Thursday that "supports passage" of the bill.
But on Friday, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said, "The tweet stands for itself."
When asked whether the president has reached out to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or House Speaker Paul Ryan about his last-minute concerns, Gidley indicated that he had nothing further to add to the president’s comment.
Within moments of Trump's tweet, a number of other Republicans expressed support for a veto.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn, encouraged the president to follow his instinct.
“Please do, Mr. President. I am just down the street and will bring you a pen,” Corker wrote. “The spending levels without any offsets are grotesque, throwing all of our children under the bus. Totally irresponsible.”
Please do, Mr. President. I am just down the street and will bring you a pen. The spending levels without any offsets are grotesque, throwing all of our children under the bus. Totally irresponsible. twitter.com/realdonaldtrum…
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who caused the government to briefly shut down earlier this year when he filibustered a short-term spending bill under consideration at the time, concurred.
"I agree @realDonaldTrump should veto this sad excuse for legislation because it’s $1.3 trillion in spending that (almost) no one read," he tweeted.
And the conservative House Freedom Caucus tweeted that it had sent a letter to Trump on Wednesday, urging him "to veto the omnibus over a lack of wall funding, among other issues."
Trump's tweet came only hours after the Senate, in the wee hours of the morning, passed the $1.3 trillion government spending deal that would fund federal operations through Sept. 30 and avert what would have been the third government shutdown this year.
The Senate sent the bill to Trump for his signature after the House approved the bill earlier Thursday, and both chambers have gone for the Easter recess. They're slated to return for legislative work in two weeks.
Funding for the federal government is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Friday evening.
Trump’s threat is just the latest hold-up for the bill, which was released Wednesday, after a days-long impasse over issues involving border security, an infrastructure project and gun-related provisions.
The bill includes a compromise on one of Trump's top priorities: the big, beautiful wall he still maintains Mexico will eventually pay for, after Congress funds it first.
Instead of allocating all of the wall money that Trump had sought, the measure is slated to provide roughly $1.6 billion for physical barriers and technology along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The White House had been pushing for $25 billion over a three-year period. The $1.6 billion amount only included $641 million for 33 miles of new border fencing in the Rio Grande Valley, not a concrete wall.
The bill would also bar federal funding to build a barrier or wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.
