House passes spending bill with $5B funding for Trump’s border wall

The House of Representatives on Thursday night voted to approve a temporary spending bill that includes $5 billion in funding for a Mexico border wall, bringing the country closer to a partial government shutdown.

The Republican-controlled House approved the bill by a vote of 217 to 185 along party lines.

The House bill will now be sent to the Senate, where it will need Democrat support and will likely not pass. Government funding for a number of departments will expire at midnight on Friday without a resolution, leading to a shutdown.

Despite the long odds, President Trump celebrated the vote in a tweet hours after the bill cleared the House.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s demand for border wall funds hurled the federal government closer to a shutdown as House Republicans approved a package Thursday with his $5.7 billion request that is almost certain to be rejected by the Senate.

The White House said Trump will not travel to Florida on Friday for the Christmas holiday if the government is shutting down. More than 800,000 federal workers will be facing furloughs or forced to work without pay if a resolution is not reached before funding expires at midnight Friday.

The shutdown crisis could be one of the final acts of the House GOP majority before relinquishing control to Democrats in January. Congress had been on track to fund the government but lurched Thursday when Trump, after a rare lashing from conservative supporters, declared he would not sign a bill without the funding. Conservatives want to keep fighting. They warn that “caving” on Trump’s repeated wall promises could hurt his 2020 re-election chances, and other Republicans’ as well.

The House voted largely along party lines, 217-185, after GOP leaders framed the vote as a slap-back to Nancy Pelosi, who is poised to become House speaker on Jan. 3 and who had warned Trump in a televised Oval Office meeting last week that he wouldn’t have the votes for the wall.

Trump crowed about the vote on Twitter, saying: “Nancy does not have to apologize. All I want is GREAT BORDER SECURITY!”

The House passed the spending bill with border wall funding, 217-185, featuring strong Republican support for the bill and no Democrat support for the bill.

The House started a renewed effort to push for $5.7 billion in wall funding after President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that he will not sign a bill that does not include border security funding. Trump also threatened to veto any legislation that comes before him without security funding. The revised funding bill also includes $7.8 billion in disaster relief.

"BeaverFever" said
But Trump said his wall wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime and Mexico was supposed to pay for it, remember?

Do you remember?

"BartSimpson" said
But Trump said his wall wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime and Mexico was supposed to pay for it, remember?

Do you remember?

"raydan" said
Canadian GoFundMe Raises $6B In Two Hours To Pay For Privacy Hedge Along Entire US Border

https://outabouter.com/2018/12/21/canad ... LTYP_2b9VE

"BartSimpson" said
But Trump said his wall wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime and Mexico was supposed to pay for it, remember?

Do you remember?

"raydan" said
Canadian GoFundMe Raises $6B In Two Hours To Pay For Privacy Hedge Along Entire US Border

https://outabouter.com/2018/12/21/canad ... LTYP_2b9VE

News of the cross-country shrubbery came as a surprise to many Americans, who were pretty sure they’d heard that the Canadians had already planted one of those two years ago, in the days following the U.S. decision to elect a discarded traffic pylon – found in a ditch on the road to nowhere – as their leader.