This morning, President Trump took to Twitter to express his displeasure with the most recent government spending bill the Senate passed earlier in the day. Trump threatened to veto the bill over the issue of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and a lack of funding for a US-Mexico border wall:
I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2018
In a previous tweet, the president accused Democrats of dropping the ball on the DACA issue, since maintaining the recipients’ legal protections was deliberately tied to one of Trump’s biggest priorities, immigration reforms and the wall: “DACA was abandoned by the Democrats. Very unfair to them! Would have been tied to desperately needed Wall.”
All this means that a government shutdown starting Saturday is once again another possibility.
Speaker Paul Ryan and OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, quoted in The Hill on the issue, seem to think the president will actually sign the bill, with Ryan stating that “the president supports this bill, there’s no two ways about.”
Still, it seems fair for the president to criticize a bill that increases spending by enormous levels, and for him to blame Democrats for failing to take a reasonable compromise on DACA.
