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A month after the beginning of the government's closure, Republican senators hold firm to President Trump's request to obtain money for the construction of a border wall, even as the GOP bears the essential responsibility of a group within the agitated party. talks last week with more than 40 senators and Republican aides.
Under pressure from conservatives to help Trump to keep his election campaign promise and unable to persuade him to avoid the partial closure of the government, these lawmakers went to the presidential election. will. Their comments show that the flaws of the 53-member Republican majority that appeared at the beginning of the closure did not extend beyond a handful of lawmakers.
Asked about the pressure from voters and some of the 800,000 federal workers involved to end the stalemate, GOP Senators insisted that they were faced with equal insistence, even more, to support Trump and his call for $ 5.7 billion for a US-Mexico deal. border, especially conservative voters.
This week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Plans to follow Trump's latest offer to Democrats – temporarily protecting some immigrants in exchange for billions of dollars in spending. as well as legislation to reopen the government. Almost all Republicans indicated that they supported the plan.
Democrats in Congress rejected the proposal and refused to negotiate with the president until the government reopened. The near-uniformity of both sides suggests the prospect of a prolonged shutdown and highlights the new dynamics in the era of divided government. While Trump faces a Democrat-led House and wants to challenge it, the Republican-controlled Senate has in fact become an extension of the White House.
"I do not envision anything that the President has not meant that he would sign," said Sen. Todd C. Young (R-Ind.), Chairman of the Campaign Group of the Republican Senate for 2020. Compromise bill, Young has repeated, word for word.
Led by McConnell, most GOP Senators say there is little point in considering closure solutions that do not receive Trump's blessing.
"As we all know, the President has the problems at heart. And he is a carnivore, "said Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.), Who recently flew on Air Force One with Trump. "And on this one, I can tell you that he thinks he's right."
Senator Richard Burr (RN.C.) said, "The President won." t sign it. Why would we work on it?
"I am ready to vote for anything that the President will agree to sign," said Senator John Barrasso (Wyo.), Republican of the Senate in third place. "And once we get that, I'll be" yes "."
The posture is a radical reversal from last month, when Senate Republicans voted unanimously to fund the federal government without satisfying the Trump Wall's demand. This also contrasts with the first two years of the Trump administration, when Republicans controlled all levers of the government but failed to stay on course. Little in the GOP, Trump's enthusiasm for the wall that he had repeatedly promised to fund in Mexico was at the height of Trump's enthusiasm.
During dozens of talks with the Washington Post, only six Republican senators were ready to say that they would support the reopening of the government without money or wall. the approval of the president being a prerequisite. Some Republicans, such as Detective Cory Gardner (Colorado), Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), have made it clear, since the start of the closure, that they would support a spending law to end the impasse, even without wall funding.
"Just a few weeks ago, they had no qualms about saying" yes, let's go to [a stopgap funding measure] until February 8 "with nothing. They did not ask for anything and they were good at the time, "Murkowski told his Republican colleagues. "And now, we are not good at it?"
When asked if she thought Republicans in the Senate were afraid to go through Trump, Murkowski replied, "I think some are absolutely."
Others, such as Republicans Sense Lamar Alexander (Tennes.), O. Graham Graham Lindsey (SC) and Rob Portman (Ohio), plead for a short-term spending measure to reopen the government for give the legislature time to consider Trump's application at the border – a strategy The White House fired.
But these voices are by far the farthest. Many Republican states in the Senate – swinging states to conservative states, top leaders at the grassroots level, Trump's acolytes to Trump's critics – support the president's stance and have remained inflexible, despite pressure from Democrats and growing consequences of government closure. .
Many Republican senators also said that they would support any compromise on funding the walls below the $ 5.7 billion administrative demand, provided that, again, it has the seal of approval. Trump approval.
"I am not in favor of a resolution of this stalemate that does not include a wall," said Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
"The President will not sign anything," said Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). "Rather than wasting time on votes to try to pressure the president, or to pressure Pelosi or make a political statement, I think President Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer should meet." [19659020"Afterbeingsofar"wonderedSenatorRogerWicker(R-Miss)"IremainfaithfultothePresidentandIwishtolethisstrategycometofruition"
Yet privately, the main Republicans expressing concern over long-term repercussions
White House officials and GOP leaders would accept virtually any offer from Democrats to end the stalemate, hoping that they would sell to Trump as a "victory" and go forward, said a Republican with close ties to both the administration and congressional leaders.This person, who spoke under cover of anonymity t to discuss private conversations, said that he was extremely appalled by the weakness of the closure and that polls showed that many Americans accused Trump.
The longer the closure lasts, the more likely the party will suffer politically.
56% of voters said that Mr. Trump and Republicans in Congress were responsible for the closure, according to a recent survey by Quinnipiac University, while 36% of congressional Democrats were responsible. The results were similar to those of a previous Washington Post-ABC News poll, which showed that Americans found Trump and GOP more accountable.
The closure also weighed on Trump's personal approval ratings – a drop that comes at a time of uproar in the White House, including many vacancies in the Cabinet, an antagonistic house eager to begin his investigations on the administration, and uncertainty as to the outcome of the investigation of the special advocate Robert S. Mueller III on the interference of Russia in the & & & sur sur sur sur sur sur sur sur sur sur sur 2016 election and its potential links with the Trump campaign.
A NPR / Marist poll last week not only showed a decline in Trump's overall approval rating, but significant declines among the fundamentals of his base political – including suburban men, white evangelicals and registered Republicans.
At the same time, the Post-ABC survey illustrated Republican pressure on their political base to remain steadfast in the fight. The survey showed that wall support jumped by 16 percentage points last year.
While many Republican Senators – especially those voting next year in a presidential poll – evaded their questions about the potential repercussions, others candidly admitted that they would likely suffer suffering from their base if they decided not to align with Trump.
"If the president does not accept a solution and the Republicans try to force it, it would have a political cost," said Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).
Republicans also expressed frustration with the Democrats, pointing out previous presidents had secured funds for the construction of gates along the southern border, while the Trump administration had only been able to repair the existing fences.
GOP Senators are increasingly disgusted by democratic tactics – such as Pelosi's suggestion that Trump should postpone the January 29 speech on the state of the Union until the reopening of the government for reasons security – and the insistence of the president that there is no more money a wall in any agreement that resolves the stalemate.
"What I do not not understand, that's how Nancy Pelosi can be a negotiator so incapable of not trying to get something that she and her colleagues really want, "said Sen. Kevin Cramer (RD). "Who knows everything that they can get? But the idea that we will not even talk about it is ridiculous. "
Republican members of the Senate have largely decided to stay in close contact with the president, even as the closure has affected their states of origin.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), like other legislators in the states of agriculture, has been under pressure because of the negative impact of the closure on farmers, who have been hit hard by the trade war of Trump. The administration has extended a key deadline for farmers to apply for rescue funds to offset the difficulties in tariffs. But some warned that the sector could face other setbacks if the closure continued.
When asked if she would be willing to support a bill without pocket money, Ernst – a new member of the Senate leadership who will vote next year – replied: "J & Would like to know that the President, uh, would support it. "
What about a compromise bill?
"Only if the president signed it," Ernst replied.
In a 20-minute interview, Murkowski described in detail the pain caused by the partial closure in Alaska. The State, with its federally managed lands, its fisheries managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the largest coastguard base in Kodiak, has more federal employees affected by closing that any other.
"I understand that the urgency of my action is perhaps because I come from a state that is currently undergoing a considerable impact. And it's frustrating for me that other colleagues do not share this sense of urgency, "said Murkowski.
But his colleague in his home country, Senator Dan Sullivan (right), pointed out that he strongly supported the president's demands, saying that it was "extremely reasonable" and underlining that the Democratic senators had collected more than 25 billion dollars of money. recently last February.
Republicans at Border Bodies are particularly firm behind Trump, who visited McAllen, Texas, earlier this month, as he intensified his public relations efforts for the wall.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), A McConnell confidant who should be re-elected next year, replied "Uh, no," to the question of whether he would agree to vote for a bill does not include financing a wall.
sign it, "remarked Cornyn.
Damian Paletta contributed to this report.
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