Trump Backs Off Demand For Full Wall Funding, Simultaneously Pushes Criminal Justice Reform

On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced its willingness to back off of its demands for full funding for a border wall in the newest continuing resolution to fund the government. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News, “we have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion that we’ll work with Congress.” She explained, “At the end of the day, we don’t want to shut down the government. We want to shut down the border.”

This marks a serious shift from the escalating tenor of President Trump’s statements on the issue. On Friday, he said that he would own a shutdown over the border; he has consistently insisted that Democrats provide him the funding he has requested. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was set to propose a bill today that would include both $1.6 billion in border funding and another $1 billion for a border security “slush fund” that could not be used toward a wall, but Democrats have already said that they will oppose such a deal. Democrats continue to preach that a wall would be immoral in some unspecified way. “It’s the wrong thing to do,” incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stated. “It doesn’t work. It’s not effective. It’s the wrong thing to do and it’s a waste of money.”