WASHINGTON – Democrats in the House of Representatives are offering a new proposal to end the ongoing government shutdown, using the same $5.7 billion dollars President Trump wants for a border wall, but not for the physical wall he’s demanded.
Instead, the money would be earmarked for high-tech border security measures.
“If his $5.7 billion is about border security, then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing it with what I like to call using a “smart wall’,” South Carolina’s Rep. James Clyburn says.
Republicans complain that’s no compromise. Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on the president’s plan, as well as a Democrat bill that would reopen the government temporarily while border security talks take place. Passage of the Democrat bill is unlikely.
On Wednesday, Speaker of the House Pelosi sent a letter the President Trump informing him the House would not vote on a resolution authorizing the State of the Union address in the House Chamber.
Both chambers of Congress must approve resolutions for the State of the Union to take place. Today is the 33rd day of the shutdown impacting 800,000 federal employees and contractors.
If a deal is not reached by Friday, federal workers will miss out on another paycheck. The Coast Guard is just one group still on duty without being paid. They will be reimbursed after the shutdown ends, yet the financial impact on families is a strong burden to bear amid this fight.
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