Congress has released a 1,159 page funding and border security bill in hopes of avoiding another partial government shutdown on Friday night. It contains just $1.3 billion for 55 miles of border fencing. There's an additional $1 billion for new inspections at ports of entry and other methods of security. The vast majority of the legislation, which totals $330 billion, is funding for federal government agencies that do not deal with immigration.
"Take this as a down payment. Go into the defense bill and move money around like Congress allowed you to do last year and build this damn wall," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said last night during an interview on Fox News. "Declare a national emergency because it is and move the money around and secure this border."
Yesterday President Trump, who had not yet received the text, did not say whether he would sign the legislation. He did say there's "no reason" for another government shutdown.
"We'll be looking for landmines -- because you could have that, you know," Trump said from the Oval Office. "I appreciate all the work the Republicans have done, because they're really going against a radical left. It's a radical left. And they're going against it very hard and they're fighting. But we're in very good shape. And we're going to take a look at it when it comes."
"I don't want to see a shutdown. A shutdown would be a terrible thing. I think a point was made with the last shutdown; people realized how bad the border is, how unsafe the border is. And I think a lot of good points were made. But I don't want to see another one. There's no reason for it," he continued.