Government Stopgap Funding Talks Could Hit The (Mexican) Wall

As Congress steels for the spending deadline to keep the government operating beyond April, the White House has signaled a risky battle that comes down to the controversial Mexican border wall.White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Thursday that he plans to do some horse-trading to keep the Democrats happy about perhaps funding a favorite project. But hell do so provided they agree to White House priorities in particular a hefty downpayment on the controversial Mexican border wall, he told The Associated Press.Mexico isnt going to pay for it,despite Donald Trumps pledge during his campaign, and the astronomical estimates are running as high as$15 billion.Elections have consequences, and we want wall funding as part of the spending bill, Mulvaney told the AP.Mulvaney said the border wall was a top demand in an offer the White House delivered to negotiators Wednesday night. The Trump administration also forwarded a$30 billion request for the military and to grant the administration the power to deny federal grants to sanctuary cities.In exchange, the White House may consider insurance subsidies for low-income Americans to keep the Affordable Care Act kicking, Mulvaney said, if the Democrats can swallow the wall.Mulvaneys plan rattled ongoing negotiations between the parties to pass a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown on April 28, when spending authorization ends. Talk of the wall hadnt come up until Mulvaneys demand. Even Republicans had agreed that it should be addressed later,after the urgent stopgap spending issue, reported The Washington Post.But the Trump administration is going full steam aheadto the wall and beyond ' with a massive spending proposal in the fall.Were certainly going to spend some money, Mulvaney said Thursday at the Institute of International Finance, Bloomberg reported.The president wants a trillion dollars worth of work on the ground, and were going to give it to him.type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=588b8a03e4b0de286b2572d0,58e50cc3e4b0f4a923b44757,58dc5c35e4b0e6ac70923aa5,58a5fd57e4b045cd34bfb9c8,56ddc5fee4b03a40567954c7 -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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