Border Brawl Is Not Between Trump And Pelosi
It is remarkable how the press is treating the border wall brawl and the potential government shutdown as a fight between Trump and Pelosi. The President’s spokesman came out today and said that the issue highlights the Democrats refusal to protect American citizens. Trump’s conservative backers support this approach and want to push the issue. But the whole premise of this supposed battle is false.
Needless to say, Trump’s rants about the wall make no sense, as Schumer clearly pointed out yesterday. In one breath, Trump claims that border is secure and he alone has made America safe. In the next, he declares that drugs, disease, and criminals are pouring in. In one breath, he says he has built the wall. In the next, he says he needs billions to build it. He claims that border security along the Mexican border has interdicted ten terrorists. Unsurprisingly, that claim is entirely false. Trump says he needs billions to build the wall but his administration hasn’t even spent 10% of the money that was allocated for that in 2018. In other words, words.
The larger problem with casting this as a battle between Pelosi and Trump is that Republicans still control both the House and the Senate until January 3rd. The Trump shutdown, which he has now openly owned, is scheduled to begin on December 21st, with Republicans still in total control and with Paul Ryan having the ability push the border wall funding through the House with only Republican votes. The problem, as Pelosi explained to the President, is that it is doubtful Ryan could actually get that done.
Trump was correct when stated that getting his additional funding passed in the Senate would require ten Democratic votes. It’s not clear that even getting those ten votes would be enough to break a potential filibuster, but it does mean that the fight should really be between Trump and Schumer and not Pelosi.
Trump has issues on two fronts for his border wall. In the House, it is his own Republican caucus that won’t provide the votes. In the Senate, he needs Democratic votes and that still may not be enough. But it suits Trump’s interests and plays to the binary nature of today’s news to cast this as a fight between Pelosi and Trump.
In the end, this will probably be another Trump tempest in a teapot, with the ultimate resolution being a continuing resolution that maintains the current border security funding and provides nothing new for Trump’s border wall. Having had his reality TV moment to provide fodder for his base, Trump will quietly sign it and lie about how it will allow him to build the wall. In other words, back to business as usual.
