Former CIA Director and frequent Trump critic John Brennan on Thursday called on Congress to end the partial government shutdown before negotiating on border security.
In a tweet, Brennan wrote that the Constitution “does not say Congress is subservient to the President,” and blasted President Trump as “unstable, unfit, and reckless.”
{mosads}“Article One of the Constitution, which established the Legislative Branch, does not say Congress is subservient to the President (especially an unstable, unfit, & reckless one),” Brennan tweeted. “Congress must do its job—fund the government, end the shutdown, & then negotiate border security.”
Brennan’s tweet came on the 20th day of the partial government shutdown, which started amid an impasse between Congress and the White House over Trump’s demand for more than $5 billion in funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Democrats are standing by their refusal to pass a spending bill that includes funding for the wall, though they have offered a smaller amount toward border security.
The House has passed multiple bills to reopen parts of the government, but the Senate has said they will not take up a bill that Trump won’t sign.
The president has threatened to declare a national emergency to get the wall without a spending deal and warned that the shutdown could last for “months or years.” Trump walked out of a meeting to negotiate with Democratic leadership on Wednesday, indicating a breakdown in talks between the two parties.