Even as GOP congressional leaders insist the party stands firmly behind the White House, some Republican senators are signaling support for spending bills that would end the ongoing partial federal government shutdown without including money for President Trump’s proposed border wall.
The GOP’s 53-member majority can weather several defections in the Senate, and Trump has threatened to use his veto power to defeat any legislation to reopen the government without wall funding. But the indications on Wednesday that some Republicans are increasingly wary of the shutdown, which Trump has said could last for “years,” highlighted the potential political pitfalls of leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed or without pay. (Some 380,000 are furloughed, and approximately 420,000 are working without pay.)
“I’m talking to a lot of folks that are in the same camp that, hey, we all want to have better, stronger border security, we all want to address humanitarian issues, but we’re all concerned about what is turning out to be the longest partial shutdown ever,” Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski told Fox News after meeting with Trump for lunch with other congressional leaders on Wednesday.
She continued: “I addressed the things that are very local to us. It’s not just those who don’t receive a federal paycheck on Friday, but there are other consequences for those of us who utilize [federal] services, whether it’s those who are seeking to get a fish scale certified so you can deliver product.” – READ MORE