(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)President Donald Trump is urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to invoke the “nuclear option” to pass the Continuing Resolution which includes the $5.7 billion to fund the border wall. But now we have Senator Chuck Schumer claiming he will block it. Can he do that? Well, don’t miss the answer to that question as the big Senate showdown over the wall is getting ugly as the swamp rats play dirty politics.
President Trump has done all he can to get the funding for the wall. Now, it’s up to Mitch McConnell and the GOP senators. McConnell can invoke the nuclear option and pass the funding bill with a simple majority of 51 votes, but there are many reports saying the Senator Majority Leader is dragging his feet.
“Trump already thought he had a solution: urging McConnell to get rid of the filibuster to fund the border wall, even though McConnell has said repeatedly that would not happen,” reported Politico. But it’s not over yet, not by a long shot.
In fact, the heroes at this point are the House Freedom Caucus who defied all odds on Thursday by passing 218-145 the new bill with the $5.7 billion included for the border wall. It was Nancy Pelosi who said on live TV that it would never happen.
“House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told President Trump during a televised meeting at the White House last week that he did not have enough support in the House for border funding,” reported the Washington Examiner.
“You will not win,” said Pelosi. “The fact is you do not have the votes in the House.” Well, the president did have the votes, proving the Democrats wrong. Now, it’s Chuck Schumer’s turn to throw shade at the possibility that the Senate could get this done.
“In a floor speech Thursday, Schumer called an effort by the conservative House Freedom Caucus to include $5 billion for the border wall in the spending measures ‘futile,’ because Democrats in the Senate will never agree to it and have the power to block it, and ‘self-defeating,’ because the public does not support the wall,” reports the Washington Examiner.
But that’s just Schumer blowing hot air. The nuclear option is not something he can block, and he knows it.
So, here’s the big question: why won’t McConnell use the nuclear option? What in the hell is going on? President Trump made it clear Friday morning it’s all up to him, tweeting, “Mitch, use the Nuclear Option and get it done! Our Country is counting on you!”
And here’s the lame argument for not using the nuclear option, according to Politico: “Republicans hold 51 Senate seats and need at least nine Democrats to pass most legislation, including funds for the border wall. Yet changing the filibuster rules in the waning days of GOP unified control would offer limited short-term gain and major long-term pain whenever Democrats take over on Capitol Hill.”
In other words, if McConnell invokes the nuclear option to pass this legislation to get partial funding for the wall and keep the government from shutting down, whenever the Democrats take control back of the Senate, they will use the nuclear option too.
Well, this is ridiculous. The GOP just picked up seats in the Senate. The real issue is not what may or may not happen in the future, it’s what the American people need now. It’s why the American people voted to give the GOP the majority in the Senate. Now, the American people are saying: do your damn job!
And then we have swamp rats like GOP Senator Bob Corker who are making even the possibility of the nuclear option extremely difficult. The Senator from Tennesee is leaving before his job is done. We can’t make this stuff up, folks.
“Y’all have fun. I’m getting ready to drive to Chattanooga,” laughed Corker after Ted Cruz told him “we need to follow through with funding for the border.”
Tell Corker to turn around and get his lazy butt back to Washington, DC right now. That’s the other problem these swamp rats are pulling. Certain GOP Senators are whining they are leaving or have left DC and they don’t want to come back to vote.
This is it. Come January, the Democrats will have control of the House and there will be zero chance to get any funding for the wall. Yet, there are GOP Senators who are crying like babies about having to do their job?
I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of these swamp rats. They are in both parties, it’s not just the Democrats. The good people of Tennesee better send a message loud and clear to that turn-coat Corker. And for all of the GOP Senators who are retiring, shame on them for living in the lap of luxury for years and bailing when the American people need them most.
Now, you see what President Trump is up against. He only has a handful of allies mainly in the Freedom Caucus who back him up. He has enemies in both parties who don’t want to see him succeed. If Mitch McConnell refuses to use the nuclear option or if there isn’t enough GOP Senators to garner the 51 vote majority, Americans won’t ever forgive them.
