Trump’s strategy has been to try to peel off Democrats from their untenable shutdown position.
We have miles of the wall at the southern border and Trump is not asking for a full coast to coast wall – just where it will have the most impact.
Pelosi is refusing to budge on the wall and she made clear to Trump that her answer would always be zero to allocating any funds towards the barrier.
In short, Pelosi’s position makes the inevitable compromise impossible, so to prod her towards making a compromise, 30 House Democrats took action.
Look, Pelosi is going to give Trump something on the wall and this is the first step towards that eventual reality.
From Townhall:
Thirty Democrats sent a letter Wednesday to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, suggesting she guarantee President Donald Trump a vote on his border security funding request if he reopens the government.
Led by freshmen Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia, the letter lays out a process that would guarantee a House vote — but not passage — on the $5.7 billion Trump has requested in border wall funding, as well as other funding he is seeking for border security needs.
The letter is not designed to signal support for the president’s funding request. Rather it is intended to lay out a process for the House to truly debate the proposal — with opportunities for Democratic amendments — in hopes that would be enough of a commitment for Trump to agree to reopen the government.
“Effective governing should not result in winners and losers,” Luria said in a statement after releasing the letter. “Our job is to do the most good for the most people. We feel this proposal would gain support across the aisle, allow a transparent process, and encourage much-needed reforms to our immigration system.”
“We promised our constituents that we would seek bipartisan solutions, and we feel that this proposal would gain bipartisan support and allow a transparent process to evaluate the true needs of border security and provide much needed reform to our immigration system,” the Democrats said.
These 30 signed the letter:
Elaine Luria
Jennifer Wexton, Va.
Abigail Spanberger, Va.
Josh Gottheimer, N.J., who co-chairs the Problem Solvers Caucus
Joe Cunningham, S.C.
Stephanie Murphy, Fla., who co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition
Chrissy Houlahan, Pa.
Dean Phillips, Minn.
Kendra Horn, Okla.
Jeff Van Drew, N.J.
Susie Lee, Nev.
Dave Loebsack, Iowa
Ben McAdams, Utah
Anthony Brindisi, N.Y.
Tom O’Halleran, Ariz, who co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition
Jim Himes, Conn., a former chairman of the New Democrat Coalition
Josh Harder, Calif.
Peter Welch, Vt.
Elissa Slotkin, Mich.
Kurt Schrader, Ore.
Tom Suozzi, N.Y.
Jim Costa, Calif.
Ed Case, Hawaii
Antonio Delgado, N.Y.
Lucy McBath, Ga.
Scott Peters, Calif.
Ed Perlmutter, Colo.
Susan Wild, Pa.
Chris Pappas, N.H.
Haley Stevens, Mich.
