President Trump is threatening to shut down the government if congress does not appropriate funds for his border wall, but high ranking Republicans are doubtful that it will get that far, Newsradio 1200 WOAI reports.
"When you shut down the government you have to reopen it at some point and the same problem you shut it down for is staring you in the face," Senator John Cornyn, the majority whip, told 1200 WOAI news in an interview.
Congress is up against a December 7 deadline to pass yet another spending bill. This one funds several agencies, including Homeland Security, which protects the border.
Speaking to Politico, President Trump said he was willing to shut down the government if $5 billion is not allocated to border wall funding.
"People look at the border, they look at the rush to the police, they look at the rock throwers and really hurting three people, three very brave Border Patrol folks - I think that it's a tremendous issue, but much more importantly, is really needed. So we have to have border security," he told Politico
.The rhetoric comes after a clash at the border on Sunday, when members of a Central American migrant caravan attempted to storm the border, throwing rocks and other items at border agents.
Many of the migrants say they are trying to escape persecution and violence in their home countries of Honduras and Guatemala.
The Department of Homeland Security has said that more than 200 migrants have criminal records, but it's unclear how many of those are for crossing the border before.Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) doesn’t believe Democrats in Congress will allow a government shutdown when it can be avoided.
"They are the party that likes government and wants more off it. It would be counterintuitive to shut down the government over that request."
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