Sen. Lankford: Trump’s shutdown proposal a ‘reasonable compromise’
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call(WASHINGTON) — As the partial government shutdown reaches Day 30, Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, said Sunday on This Week that President Donald Trump’s latest proposal to end the partial government shutdown is a “reasonable compromise” that should be taken up by Congress.
“What I encouraged the White House to do, and multiple others encouraged the White House to do, is put out a proposal,” Lankford said. “The vote this week is not to pass the bill. It’s to open up and say, ‘Can we debate this?’ ‘Can we amend it?’ ‘Can we make changes?’”
On Saturday, Trump announced his new proposal to end the government shutdown in a speech from the White House.
The president’s plan still includes $5.7 billion for a “physical barrier” along the Southern border. Additionally, Trump said his plan includes “$800 million in urgent humanitarian aid, $805 million for drug-detection technology to help secure our ports of entry, an additional 2,750 border agents and law enforcement professionals” and “75 new immigration judge teams.”
Trump said in his speech that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, would bring the proposal to a vote on the Senate floor this week. McConnell said in a statement that the president’s offer “strikes a fair compromise” to reopen the government.
But Democrats were quick to reject the president’s proposal.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement before the speech that the president’s plan to offer temporary extensions for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status recipients is a “non-starter,” and called on the president to reopen the government so negotiations can continue.
After the speech, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said, “It was the president who single-handedly took away DACA and TPS protections in the first place. Offering some protections back in exchange for the wall is not a compromise but more hostage-taking.”
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