Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) says he does not support a partial government shutdown, despite President Trump’s insistence he will do so if the border wall is not fully funded.
President Trump has said he will proudly shut down the government by December 21, which is the end of a current funding extension passed by Congress. After that deadline, some government agencies would run out of money.
"I'll be the one to shut it down," Trump told Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer on Tuesday. "I will take the mantle. And I will shut it down for border security."
Portman, however, is not a fan of government shutdowns.
“I just don’t think that shutdowns work. We always end up going back and costing the taxpayer more,” Portman said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday.
Instead, he suggested there’s time to get a border security package passed before the deadline.
“It’ll have some physical barriers including walls,” Portman says. “It’ll also have drones. It’ll also have other surveillance along the border. You know in the past almost every member of the Senate has voted for that.”
Top House and Senate Democrats, however, have not indicated they support the wall along the border with Mexico.
