By Kristina Peterson and Siobhan Hughes
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's threat to shut down the
government if Congress doesn't approve funding for a Mexico border
wall raised alarm among some Republican lawmakers, who say it could
throw a wrench in their efforts to keep government open this
fall.
Lawmakers returning to Washington in early September will have
only a dozen days with both the House and Senate in session before
the government's current funding expires on Oct. 1. Lawmakers from
both parties had expected Congress to pass a stopgap two- or
three-month spending bill, but Mr. Trump's remarks injected new
volatility into an already uncertain political climate this
fall.
Mr. Trump said Tuesday night he was prepared to dig in over his
request for $1.6 billion toward the border wall, one of his
signature campaign promises.
"We're going to get our wall," Mr. Trump said at a rally in
Phoenix. "If we have to close down our government, we're building
that wall. "
Mr. Trump's push quickly hit resistance within his own party,
including among some GOP lawmakers who attended his rally on
Tuesday.
"A government shutdown hurts Republicans -- it's the last thing
I want," said Rep. Trent Franks (R., Ariz.), a member of the House
Freedom Caucus who was at the rally. "It is a political liability
of profound significance to us."
Although some conservatives backed Mr. Trump's demand, a border
wall is controversial among many Republicans, some of whom think it
isn't the most effective way to tighten border security. And after
this year's protracted and unsuccessful struggle to roll back and
replace much of the Affordable Care Act, few senior Republicans are
eager to shut down the government now that they control the White
House and both chambers of Congress.
"I don't think anyone's interested in having a shutdown," House
Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) told reporters at a stop at an Intel
Corp. facility in Oregon on Wednesday. Mr. Ryan said that while he
agreed with Mr. Trump that a physical barrier was needed in places
along the border, "I don't think a government shutdown is
necessary, and I don't think most people want to see a government
shutdown, ourselves included."
Mr. Ryan said he expected lawmakers would need to pass a
short-term spending bill in September to give them more time to
work out a broader budget agreement later this year.
Many GOP lawmakers worry a shutdown or a failure to raise the
government's borrowing limit -- another deadline they are facing
this fall -- could harm their chances of retaining the House
majority in next year's midterm elections. Treasury officials have
said Congress must raise the government's borrowing limit by around
the end of September.
If Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling to allow new
borrowing, the U.S. could default on its debt or miss payments of
benefits and salaries.
Fitch Ratings said Wednesday that a failure to raise the U.S.
debt limit in a "timely manner" would prompt a review of the
country's credit rating for possible downgrade. Fitch said a
government shutdown would have no direct impact on its rating, but
would "highlight how political divisions pose challenges" to the
budget process.
"A government shutdown would be fatal for our majority and
inappropriate for the country," Rep. Dennis Ross (R., Fla.), a
member of the House GOP whip team, said this week. "We own those
because we're in charge, and if we don't handle those, it's going
to be very irresponsible," he said of the spending and debt limit
deadlines.
Democrats, whose votes likely will be needed in both chambers,
swiftly rejected Mr. Trump's demand Wednesday morning. Spending
bills need 60 votes to pass the Senate, where Republicans hold 52
seats.
"If the president pursues this path, against the wishes of both
Republicans and Democrats, as well as the majority of the American
people, he will be heading towards a government shutdown, which
nobody will like and which won't accomplish anything," Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said in a statement
Wednesday morning.
Among Democrats, the border wall has become a potent symbol for
what they view as Mr. Trump's hostility toward both legal and
illegal immigrants. The president's response to the violence in
Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month has also exacerbated
tension between Democrats and Mr. Trump, making a compromise over
the border wall more elusive.
"My best estimate is that there are no Democratic votes for the
border wall," said Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky, the top Democrat
on the House Budget Committee. Democrats are likely to remain firm
"and let the Republicans shut the government down over it," he
said. "I really see no give on that."
Mr. Trump had made a similar push for border wall funding in
April, but backed off his demands when Republicans signaled they
were not ready to shut the government down over the issue.
This time around, smarting from a stinging defeat over the
health-care bill, Mr. Trump has telegraphed he won't retreat and
some conservatives said they were on board with his push.
"If I had been standing in the crowd, I would have been leading
the cheer," said Rep. Steve King (R., Iowa.). "If Congress says
they refuse to fund a $1.6 billion appropriation to follow through
on the lead mandate that voters delivered when they elected Donald
Trump, then if all the functions of government shut down because
Congress refused, then I think that would be on Congress instead of
the president."
But many other Republicans, while generally supportive of the
border wall, have little interest in allowing a shutdown now that
they control all levers of government.
"Nobody is looking to do any kind of government shutdown. Our
job is to be functional, to be effective," Rep. Mark Walker (R.,
N.C.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of more
than 150 House Republicans, said in an interview Tuesday before Mr.
Trump's rally.
For GOP leaders, the challenge is that many House Republicans
often balk at spending bills, forcing them to rely on Democratic
votes to clear the must-pass bills. Unless they can persuade
roughly 218 House Republicans to support a spending bill,
Democratic defections over the border wall would derail it.
"I don't think Republicans want to confront the consequences of
either a government shutdown or a debt default on their watch,"
said Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.).
-- Chris Dieterich contributed to this article
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and
Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 23, 2017 15:38 ET (19:38 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.