Politico By Burgess Everett 03/13/17
Chuck Schumer is warning Mitch McConnell not to include money for a border wall with Mexico in a must-pass government funding bill next month, the first step in what could turn into a pitched shutdown fight over the Southern wall promoted by President Donald Trump.
Led by Senate Minority Leader Schumer, top Senate Democrats are insisting that Majority Leader McConnell avoid demanding either funding for a border wall or another "poison pill" rider such as defunding Planned Parenthood as a condition of funding the government. McConnell will need Schumer to deliver at least eight votes to avert a shutdown by April 28, and Schumer is already suggesting that things could get ugly if Republicans play hardball and try to jam Democrats.
Schumer and his leadership team said they are "concerned with reports that there may be an effort to include funding for a very expensive border wall" in the springtime government funding package, according to a Monday letter sent to McConnell and Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and obtained by POLITICO. Schumer is among a handful of Democrats still in the Senate that voted for a bill in 2006 to begin constructing a border wall; Republicans are weighing whether to test Schumer with a shutdown fight by insisting he approve border wall money to avoid a shutdown.
[Excerpted]
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/government-funding-bill-border-wall-democrats-235987
