Share

President Trump Says He’s Signed $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill

The omnibus bill includes $1.6 billion in additional funding for border security but would only allow for fencing similar to what already exists along the border – nothing that would resemble Trump’s envisioned wall. “There are a lot of things that we shouldn’t have had in this bill, but were in a sense forced [to have] if we want to build our military”, Trump said during a hastily scheduled press conference in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room.

Advertisement

Just feet away from Trump’s weekday residence at The White House, half a million people packed Pennsylvania Avenue for the March For Our Lives events against gun violence.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: There wasn’t supposed to be any suspense.

CHANG: How did Congress react today to the president’s veto threat? BAD IDEA. As I promised, today the Department of Justice will issue the rule banning BUMP STOCKS with a mandated comment period.

MICK MULVANEY: Let’s cut right to the chase. Why – because it funds his priorities.

That’s the spirit in which he offered an eleventh-hour threat to veto the omnibus spending bill passed by Congress this week (which would keep the government open until the end of September). A senior White House official said last week he remains opposed. “To be honest, as a kid, not just a kid – a person of the area, but as a kid with autism, we believe that people with special needs should also stand”. This sent shock waves over on Capitol Hill where most members of Congress were long gone, having recessed for spring break.

KING: Are they really?

SNELL: You heard him say it there twice, that he. Certainly, leadership was not expecting this.

Trump appeared to have tweeted from the White House residence, as there is no Marine guard posted outside the door of the West Wing, which is what happens when the president is in the West Wing. You know, it’s not unheard of for Congress to pass bills they know will upset the president. I mean, if you can’t – ultimately, the Democrats controlled this process in the Senate.

Trump’s aides did contend they got more funding for the border barrier, Customs and Border Patrol, and border-related technologies than they had asked for. He threatened to veto the bill and shut down the government again.

Trump said that he was only signing the massive spending bill because he wanted to ensure that the military has proper funding and expressed frustration that Democrats were able to secure funding for programs they favor. They could probably find a way through unanimous consent or some other thing.

President Donald Trump speaks following a meeting on infrastructure at Trump Tower, August 15, 2017 in New York City. And the border wall, which is desperately needed for our national defense, is not fully funded.

February 26: Supreme Court declines to take up an immediate appeal of court decisions resuming DACA renewals, ensuring no deportations of DACA recipients for months and taking pressure of Congress. It is continuing to go on.

But the President soured on the $1.6 billion earmarked for his contentious border wall, saying that it’s not enough. And his response was pretty blunt. “That is NOT Making America Great Again”, Leahy said. “The president wanted a DACA fix as part of this deal”. What do you think?

“Art of the deal wrecker”, was how Sen. Now, there are a lot of concerns with the legislation on both sides of the aisle, including that it spends a whole ton of money.

Samuel Ronan, a progressive Democratic candidate for Congress from OH, told Al Jazeera that the Democrats’ momentum will “crash against a red wall” during midterms because people will be disappointed “with the … ineptitude of the failed Democratic party”. Since then, bipartisan proposals that would have provided permanent protections for Dreamers have been shot down by Trump. “Please do, Mr. President”, he tweeted.

Advertisement

KING: Sometimes tweets are just tweets.

Trump signs $1.3 trillion budget after threatening veto