Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said in an interview that aired Friday on “Rising” that Democrats will not make any tradeoffs for Dreamers or agree to President Trump’s demand for $5 billion to build his proposed southern border wall.
“The Republicans control the White House, the Senate, and the House. So if they can’t sort out a budget among themselves, Democrats are ready to deal and give votes for their budget,” Swalwell told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball on Thursday.
“That will not include building a wall or making any tradeoffs for Dreamers,” he continued. “We’ve offered to have security at the border. We believe in that, but a $5 billion wall, we don’t think is a good use of money, especially when only 6 percent of the last billion dollars that was given has only been spent.”
Swalwell’s comments come as the possibility of a partial government shutdown looms over Congress after President Trump declared at an Oval Office meeting earlier this week that he would accept blame for a government shutdown if he does not get his requested $5 billion in funding for a border wall.
Democrats have instead offered $1.3 billion for border fencing and barriers.
Republicans in Congress have said they do not have a plan to avoid a shutdown in time for Christmas and are waiting for Trump to signal what kind of funding bill he is willing to sign.
— Julia Manchester
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