The White House and various federal agencies are preparing for the possibility of the government shutting down at the end of the week. As of now, both President Donald Trump and Democrats refuse to budge on the border wall funding, The Washington Post reported.
"We're going to do whatever is necessary to build the border wall," White House senior advisor Stephen Miller said in an interview "Face the Nation." And, that means that the White House is prepared for a government shutdown if absolutely necessary.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made it very clear during an interview with "Meet the Press" that Democrats won't give into President Trump's demands for $5 million for the border wall.
"President Trump should understand – the are not the votes for the wall, in the House or the Senate. He is not going to get the wall in any form," Schumer said.
WATCH: @SenSchumer says we can't let the president’s “temper tantrum” cause a government shutdown. #MTP #IfItsSunday pic.twitter.com/DSj7JktTlP
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) December 16, 2018
Schumer took to Twitter to reiterate his point.
President Trump should understand he does not have the votes for the wall in the House or Senate.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 16, 2018
We offered two reasonable options to avoid a shutdown.
We will not let a temper tantrum push us in the direction of doing something even our Republican colleagues know is wrong.
Republican legislators, however, are talking about another resolution to keep the government from shutting down. The resolution would be for another week or two. The problem though, is the White House isn't fond of the idea. After all, that's a short term fix for a long term problem.
This debacle comes right before Christmas and just before Democrats take control of the House next month.