The White House did not rule out the possibility of a new “government shutdown” if no agreement is reached before February 15 with the Democrats on financing the wall that President Donald Trump wants to build on the border with Mexico.
“The government’s shutdown is still theoretically on the table, we do not want to get to that point, but this option is always open for the president and will remain so,” Mick Mulvaney, the new chief of staff interim of the White House told Fox News.
“I think the talks are deadlocked right now,” added Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Last Friday was the deadline to reach an agreement on the financing of a wall with Mexico, which leads to doubt about another partial closure of the government after the 35 days that ended on January 25, the longest the history of the country.
The legislators of both parties in charge of the negotiations expressed optimism on Friday. But Shelby warned Sunday: “Time is running, but we’re having some problems with Democrats around ICE,” he said, referring to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The US president hold a campaign rally in El Paso (Texas) on Monday, near the Mexican border, where an anti-wall demonstration has been called at the same time.
They propose very little money for the wall we desperately need at the border, the president said on Sunday.
Mulvaney also mentioned the possibility of resorting to an exceptional emergency procedure to unlock the funds needed to build the wall.
The National Emergency Law (NEA), passed in 1976, grants the president the power to declare a “national emergency” that grants him extraordinary powers, but he must justify it with a specific reason.
The decree allows the White House to proclaim martial law, limit civil liberties, requisition private property, mobilize the National Guard and recruit military personnel, and restrict trade, communications and financial transactions.
Another law allows the president to use the army’s budget for “military construction projects” in the event of a declared national emergency. But it is difficult for the wall to fall into this category.
Congress has refused to assign President Trump the 5.7 billion dollars he wants for the wall with which he intends to stop the arrival of illegal immigrants coming to the US.
