Trump lays out his demands for border deal to top Republican as shutdown deadline nears

The Brainerd Dispatch ^ | February 7, 2019 | The Washington Post

[2ndDivisionVet]

President Donald Trump met with a key Republican negotiator Thursday, Feb. 7, to lay out his demands for a border deal, as lawmakers sought an agreement to stave off another government shutdown.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., told reporters after meeting with Trump that he believes the president will support a deal bipartisan congressional negotiators produce - as long as it meets his parameters. Lawmakers face a Feb. 15 deadline when large portions of the government will shut back down absent a deal.

Shelby declined to detail Trump's requirements, and he did not say whether the president had agreed to accept less than the $5.7 billion he's been demanding to build new steel walls along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"If we can work within some of the parameters that we talked about today - that we'll keep to ourselves - I think he would sign it," Shelby said. "And I think he's, from my perspective, been quite reasonable."

Shelby added: "We hope we've got a deal. If we haven't got a deal, we probably won't get a deal."...

[ravenwolf]

I could not have said it better, many of them probably did stay home and that is why there was not 60 votes in the Senate to pass the bill.