Trump Wants No Changes to Government Funding Bill
President Donald Trump said Monday he doesn’t want to see any changes to the Senate-passed bill aimed at ending the partial government shutdown.
Trump announced Monday afternoon on Truth Social that he does not want to see amendments to the bill, as Democrats say. are considering not voting for him due to short-term funding from the Department of Homeland Security, and some conservative Republicans have sought election integrity add-on modules.
Trump wrote:
I am working hard with President Johnson to get the current funding agreement, which passed the Senate last week, through the House and to my desk, where I will sign it IMMEDIATELY! We need to make government open, and I hope all Republicans and Democrats will join me in supporting this bill and send it to my desk WITHOUT DELAY. There can be NO CHANGE at this time. We will work together in good faith to resolve the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another lengthy, unnecessary and destructive shutdown that will harm our country so seriously – and that will benefit neither Republicans nor Democrats. I hope everyone votes, YES!
Hours later, in the Oval Office, at a signing ceremony to launch Project Vault, a $12 billion stockpile of critical minerals, the president said he thought Congress was “pretty close to a resolution” and a reporter asked where things stood.
“Well, I’ve spoken with President Johnson, I’ve spoken with Leader Thune, and I think they’re pretty close to a resolution,” he said.
“You know, we were at 5.6 percent of GDP, and we lost a point and a half because of the 42-day shutdown. Think about it: we would have been at seven. Nobody has ever seen a number like seven,” he added.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said during the Democratic shutdown in November that it was costing the United States $15 billion a week, which would reduce fourth-quarter gross domestic product by 1 to 1.5 percentage points.
“But despite that, we have the highest numbers we’ve ever had,” Trump added Monday. “We’re doing well, we’re going through this period, but I will say I’ve spoken with Senator Schumer several times, and I don’t think they want to see a stop either.”
