Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced today that Democrats are not working on a counteroffer to President Trump’s border wall demands, leaving no end in sight to the partial government shutdown.
When asked by a reporter if House Democrats were working on a counteroffer to President Trump, Pelosi replied “That’s not true. That’s not true. That’s not true.”
“We are doing what we have been doing all along: working on our congressional responsibility to write bills, appropriations bills, to keep government open. Many of those bills have come to the floor again and again, just this week. The Homeland Security bill was not finished,” she said. “Hopefully it will be finished soon and out of that you will see our commitment to border security.”
The Speaker continued, “There’s not any negotiation behind the scenes or anything like that.”
The remarks arrive as Democratic leaders are expected to release their own plan to bolster border security, to include enhanced surveillance technologies and reinforcement of existing physical barriers — but no new wall construction.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Wednesday that the Democrats are prepared to match Trump’s figure of $5.7 billion for border security — with two stipulations: it can’t be used for new wall construction, and the negotiations must happen after the shutdown has ended.
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