White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller promised Sunday that President Trump will partially shut down the federal government if he doesn’t get the funding he’s requested for his southern border wall.
“We’re going to do whatever is necessary to build the border wall to stop this ongoing crisis of illegal immigration. If it comes to it, absolutely,” Miller told CBS News when asked whether Trump would allow the government to shut down over the funding fight.
“This is a very fundamental issue. At stake is the question of whether or not the United States remains a sovereign country, whether or not we can establish and enforce rules for entrance into our country,” Miller said. “The Democrat party has a simple choice: They can either choose to fight for America’s working class or to promote illegal immigration. You can’t do both.”
Trump wants Congress to approve $5 billion in border wall funding before a Dec. 21 deadline, by which time a new spending or delay measure must be passed by lawmakers on Capitol Hill and signed by the president before current funding levels expire. Congressional Democrats, however, are unwilling to agree to more than $1.6 billion for Trump’s proposed impediments along the southern border with Mexico — and insist they won’t provide funding to pay for a physical wall.
Miller declined to answer Sunday whether there was any “wiggle room” on Trump’s $5 billion demand.
“I’m not going to negotiate the details on air with you right now,” he said.
