Some Democrats Might Be Willing to Buck Party Leadership on Wall Funding

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Although Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) ordered congressional Democrats to stick together in firm opposition against the border wall funding that President Donald Trump wants, some Democrats are now signaling their willingness to work with Trump to reopen the government and fund the wall.

The government partially shut down near the end of December after Democrats refused to give Trump the $5 billion he requested in security wall funding. While many congressional Democrats supported border walls and barriers not long ago, many now claim that such barriers are immoral or unnecessary with Trump as president.

During his first Oval Office address earlier in January, Trump pointedly asked the Democrats, “How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?”

But Pelosi and Schumer delivered joint rebuttals afterward — and refused to accept any deal that includes wall funding. They urged their Democratic caucuses to do the same.

Trump even offered a deal this past weekend that would extend temporary protections for illegal immigrant dreamers brought the the U.S. as children while providing the $5 billion in border wall funding. (Dreamers is a reference to the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.) Pelosi and Schumer would not budge, however.

But as the partial government shutdown drags on and federal workers miss paychecks, some Democratic lawmakers are beginning to cave.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, admitted Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week” that he would support some border wall construction on some portions of the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I’m saying that we will sit with the chief, the president, and whomever, and we will work through it,” Thompson (pictured above right) said when asked about his willingness to negotiate on reopening the government.- READ MORE

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