Schumer’s Priority Is to Block the Wall

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has concluded that denying President Trump his wall on the Mexican border would be the biggest defeat Democrats can hand him in his first year, Jonathan Swan reports.

“Trump needs 60 Senate votes to fund construction of his ‘great wall’ along the Southern border… There’s nothing the Republicans would be willing to offer that could get Trump the eight Democratic Senators he needs to fund the wall. Mitch McConnell’s only other option would be to invoke the nuclear option and bypass the filibuster. But Democratic appropriators are betting the Republican leader won’t be willing to undermine such a fundamental Senate tradition just to pay for Trump’s wall.”

“The evolving plan, being discussed by Schumer’s office and Senate appropriators: If Republicans put money for the wall into a bill, Democrats block it. It doesn’t matter what else is in the bill — Schumer will make it about the wall. The way Democrats see it, if they can block the wall, they’d crush a central feature of Trump’s political identity.”