NO DEALS
Lindsey Graham to Trump: Reopen the government
By Nikki Schwab January 13, 2019 | 12:25pm
WASHINGTON – Sen. Lindsey Graham called on President Trump to reopen the government for three weeks to try to work out a deal with Congress to fund his long-promised border wall.
If the effort to end the stalemate fails, Trump could then use his executive powers to build the wall himself.
“Before he pulls the plug on the legislative option, and I think we’re almost there, I would urge him to open up the government for a short period of time, like three weeks, before he pulls the plug, see if we can get a deal. If we can’t at the end of three weeks, all bets are off, see if he can do it by himself through the emergency powers,” Graham (R-SC) suggested on “Fox News Sunday.”
Graham warned, though, that he believed “the legislative path is just about shut off.”
“Because Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the House, said ‘Even if you reopen the government, I’ll give you $1 for the wall,’” Graham said. “As long as that’s the case, we’re never going to get a legislative package.”
Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues have said they won’t fund Trump’s border wall – at least until he reopens the government.
The partial government shutdown is in its 23rd day.
House Democrats have passed legislation that would fund the government, but it hasn’t been taken up in the Senate, where Republicans have a majority.
Talks broke down last week, with Trump walking out of the White House Situation Room after Democrats said they wouldn’t fund the wall.
“I’m just so frustrated we can’t get in a room and hammer it out,” Graham remarked.
Graham apologized to the federal workers – who are either working without pay or furloughed – but said the shutdown caused “less damage than if we don’t fix our broken immigration system.”
“You’ve got two bad choices here,” Graham said.
Graham, one of the president’s most vocal Senate allies, laid out what he thought would be an acceptable deal to the White House, labeling it “wall-plus.”
Democrats could help the so-called Dreamers or enable immigrants living in the U.S. under a Temporary Protected Status to stay longer if they agreed to fund a southern barrier.
Graham also revealed that he had spoken to Trump in the last 30 minutes, with the president saying that declaring a national emergency to get funding for the wall was his “last option.”
“The president is not going to give in – no wall, no deal – but he’s ready to deal,” Graham said.
https://nypost.com/2019/01/13/lindsey-graham-to-trump-reopen-the-government