The Senate passed a bill to keep the government running into February but President Donald Trump has changed course again, derailing the passage of a funding bill a day before the deadline.
House Majority Leader Paul Ryan met with the president Thursday afternoon and afterward said Trump will not sign the funding bill, reversing course from earlier in the week when he said he didn’t want a shutdown.
“We just had a very long and productive meeting with the president,” Ryan said in a press conference Thursday afternoon. “The president informed us that he will not sign the bill that came over from the Senate last evening because of his legitimate concerns for border security.
“So what we’re going to do is go back to the House and meet with our members. We want to keep the government open, but we also want to see an agreement that protects the border. We have very serious concerns about securing our border. So the president said he will not sign this bill. We’re going to go back and work on adding border security to this, also keeping the government open because we do want to see an agreement.”
Before the meeting Thursday, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, “Trump does not want to go further without border security, which includes steel slats or a wall.”
If the House fails to come up with a bill that Trump will sign by midnight Friday, nine departments including the Department of Homeland Security will close before Christmas.
On Tuesday the White House backed off Trump’s rhetoric during an explosive Oval Office meeting last week when he said he would be proud to shut down the government to get the funding he says is necessary to secure the border.
“We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion,” Sanders said in a Tuesday interview. “At the end of the day we don’t want to shut down the government, we want to shut down the border.”
But then Thursday morning Trump tweeted his frustration over not getting the funding to start building the border wall at the center of his biggest campaign promise — a promise that also included Mexico paying for the border wall.
“When I begrudgingly signed the Omnibus Bill, I was promised the Wall and Border Security by leadership,” Trump tweeted. “Would be done by end of year (NOW). It didn’t happen! We foolishly fight for Border Security for other countries – but not for our beloved U.S.A. Not good!”
Trump also threatened to veto the omnibus bill before signing it.
Earlier Thursday morning, Trump threatened Democrats over infrastructure spending if he isn’t given border wall funding.
“The Democrats, who know Steel Slats (Wall) are necessary for Border Security, are putting politics over Country,” he tweeted. “What they are just beginning to realize is that I will not sign any of their legislation, including infrastructure, unless it has perfect Border Security. U.S.A. WINS!”
The Senate unanimously approved the bill to fund the government on Wednesday, but House Republicans waited to hear whether Trump would support the bill before voting.
House Speaker Paul Ryan canceled a scheduled news conference after receiving an emergency call from the president Thursday morning.