1/21/19
One month into a historic government shutdown, Republican senators are standing staunchly behind President Trump’s demand for money to build a border wall, even as the GOP bears the brunt of the blame for a standoff few in the party agitated for, according to interviews this past week with more than 40 Republican senators and aides. Under pressure from conservatives to help Trump deliver on a signature campaign promise and unable to persuade him to avert the partial government shutdown, these lawmakers have all but surrendered to the president’s will. This week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plans to move ahead on Trump’s latest offer to Democrats — temporary protections for some immigrants in exchange for billions of dollars in wall money as well as legislation to reopen the government. Nearly all Republicans have indicated they back the plan. Congressional Democrats have rejected the proposal and have refused to negotiate with the president until the government is reopened. The near-uniformity on both sides raises the prospect of an extended shutdown and highlights the new dynamic in the era of divided government. As Trump faces down a Democratic-led House eager to challenge him, the Republican-controlled Senate has effectively become an extension of the White House.
“I’m ready to vote for anything that the president agrees to sign,” added Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.), the third-ranking Senate Republican. “And once we get that, I’m a ‘yes’ vote.” The posture is a stark turnaround from a month ago, when Senate Republicans voted unanimously to fund the federal government without satisfying Trump’s wall request. It also stands in contrast to the first two years of the Trump administration, when Republicans controlled all levers of government yet failed to deliver on the wall. Few in the GOP matched Trump’s enthusiasm for a wall that he repeatedly promised Mexico would finance. Throughout the dozens of interviews with The Washington Post, only six Republican senators were willing to say they would support reopening the government without wall money and without the president’s approval being a precondition. Some Republicans, such as Sens. Cory Gardner (Colo.), Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), have made it clear almost since the shutdown began that they would back spending legislation to end the impasse, even without border wall funding. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), a McConnell confidant up for reelection next year, responded “Uh, no,” when asked whether he would entertain voting for a bill that did not include wall funding. “The president won’t sign it,” Cornyn pointed out.
