US President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans have rebuked him after his threat to shut down the US Government over funding for a border wall rattled markets and cast a shadow over congressional efforts to raise the country’s debt ceiling and pass spending bills.
Key points:
- Mr Trump has threatened a shutdown if Congress did not agree to fund constructing the wall
- Congress will have about 12 working days when it returns on September 5 to approve spending measures
- White House says Mr Trump will work with Congress to fund the wall because he “ran on it, won on it”
“I don’t think anyone’s interested in having a shutdown,” the top Republican in Congress, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, told reporters on Wednesday in Hillsboro, Oregon, where he visited an Intel factory.
Mr Ryan said building a wall along the country’s border with Mexico to deter illegal immigration was necessary, but added that the government did not have to choose between border security and continuing operations.
In a speech on Tuesday, Mr Trump threatened a shutdown if Congress did not agree to fund constructing the wall, a signature promise of his presidential campaign, which added a new complication to Republicans’ months-long struggle to reach a budget deal.
After Mexico rejected a chief part of Mr Trump’s promise — that it would pay for the wall — the President said the United States would fund it initially and be repaid by its southern neighbour. Lawmakers, including many Republicans, have not made that funding a top priority, as some question the necessity of a wall.
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