White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday Congress is aware that President Trump wants funding for the southern border wall in a spending bill to keep the government running, but he dodged on whether Trump would decline to sign a bill that didn’t include that money.
“The president’s priorities are clear for FY17,” he said. “There’s a lot of things we can do in the remaining months … for planning and making sure we get everything that we need.”
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday morning Trump thinks funding for the wall doesn’t have to be in a spending bill to keep the government running. The federal government will undergo a partial shutdown at midnight Saturday if no spending bill is signed.
“Building that wall and having it funded remains an important priority for him, but we also know that can happen later this year and into next year,” Conway said. “In the interim, you see other smart technology and other resources and tools being used toward border security.”
Despite that position, Spicer repeatedly refused to characterize the White House’s position as delaying seeking funding for the wall. He said planning for construction of the wall will continue throughout the rest of the year, even if there’s no funding for the project in the budget.
Spicer added the administration will continue to seek funding for the wall in negotiations for a spending bill, even in the face of resistance from Democrats and some congressional Republicans.
“We hope to get funding in that, as the president laid out, for border security, homeland security and defense,” he said.
