Lame Duck Fight Planned Over Border Wall Funding

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., this week said Senate Republicans are “committed to helping the president get wall funding” during the lame duck session. The Senate included $1.6 billion for wall funding in its 2019 spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) but McConnell wants to match the $5 billion figure set by the House Appropriations Committee.

McConnell told the Washington Examiner, “We are going to try really hard to get the money the president would like this year for the border wall.”

Republican leaders decided to delay the fight over DHS funding levels, including for the wall, until after the election. This upset President Trump, who at one point threatened to veto the continuing resolution that funds DHS and other agencies.

The continuing resolution expires on December 7, so Congress must negotiate a deal over funding levels before then or face a partial shutdown of DHS and other affected agencies. Senate Democrats have already announced their opposition to the $5 billion figure.

Read more in the Washington Examiner.