Senate Rejects Billions for Border Wall, Partial Government Shutdown Imminent

WASHINGTON — The Senate rejected President Trump’s demand that $5 billion in taxpayer money be allocated for a border wall as part of an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). With both chambers now adjourned, a partial shutdown will begin at midnight.

Lorella Praeli, deputy political director at the American Civil Liberties Union, had the following response:

“Congress has an obligation to serve as a check on the executive branch. While the House abandoned that responsibility when it refused to pass a bipartisan, short-term continuing resolution, the Senate did not.

“This government shutdown is due solely to Trump’s border wall obsession and his refusal to abandon his anti-immigrant agenda, even at the cost of denying hundreds of thousands of federal workers their holiday paychecks and impacting operations at several federal agencies. As negotiations continue, Congress should hold their ground against the border wall, stand up for border and immigrant communities across the country, and continue to reject Trump’s extortionist demands in any future funding negotiations.”