Chuck Schumer yanks offer to fund border wall after being rebuffed by Trump
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) informed the White House on Monday that his offer of $1.6 billion in border wall funding is off the table after President Trump rejected the deal last Friday during a meeting aimed at averting a government shutdown, Politico reports. "He called the White House yesterday and said it's over," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
Schumer had floated fully funding the wall in exchange for a deal to give Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients legal status, The New York Times reported, although Trump allegedly didn't think the concessions were conservative enough. "In my heart, I thought we might have a deal tonight," Schumer had claimed on the Senate floor.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) expressed doubts to Politico about what was negotiated in Schumer's meeting with Trump, which took place over cheeseburgers. The Democrats "claim that some crazy deal was made," Cotton said. "And then when we say no deal was made, they accuse Republicans and the president of reneging."
On Monday, Trump signed a bipartisan bill to fund the government through Feb. 8, and the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised that immigration legislation will be brought to a vote by Feb. 8 if the issue has not been resolved by then.