Among the many problems Republicans had with the omnibus spending bill passed on Thursday, President Trump is threatening to veto it over one — immigration.
Throwing a wrench into the deal Friday morning, Trump tweeted just before 8:00 a.m. to say he might veto the legislation “based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded.”
I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2018
So why, of all the myriad complaints his party had about the package, would Trump zero in on immigration, with less than a day to go before another government shutdown?
The president also tweeted Friday morning to accuse Democrats of being “unfair” to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipients, claiming again his opponents “abandoned” the issue.
Given the tight timeline, it seems Trump may be using his veto threat as a way of signaling strong dissatisfaction with the bill — an appeal to his base — and as an opportunity to drive a wedge between Democrats and DACA proponents. Drawing attention to Democratic leadership’s decision not to demand a DACA deal in this round of spending debates gives Trump the opportunity to stoke divisions among his rivals and cast himself as the willing negotiator.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel spoke unfavorably of government shutdowns even after Trump’s tweet, warning that Democrats would “shut down this government as much as possible” if they won back the majorities in Congress.
Neither party believes a shutdown would be politically expedient for them right now. With his veto tweets, Trump was probably trying to re-frame the DACA negotiations in his favor and signal dissatisfaction with the legislation more than anything. But this is not a predictable president, so only time will tell.
