Donald Trump's smoke and mirrors routine on who's paying for the border wall may have fooled his nativist supporters but it's not getting a warm reception from Republican lawmakers, particularly in the Senate. And without funding from Congress, Trump’s gonna have to pick his own pockets to build that $12–$15 billion wall (or just hire people and not pay them!). Anyway, Manu Raju interviewed more than a dozen GOP lawmakers:
Many bluntly told CNN they'd likely vote against any Trump plan that is not fully offset with spending cuts. [...]
"If you're going to spend that kind of money, you're going to have to show me where you're going to get that money," said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a key swing vote who has already broken with Trump over his nominee for secretary of education. [...]
Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican who represents the border state of Texas, was deeply skeptical about whether a wall alone would be enough to deter immigrants from entering the country illegally. And he issued a stark warning to Trump.
"I have concerns about spending un-offset money, which adds to the debt, period," Cornyn said bluntly when asked about the wall. "I don't think we're just going to be able to solve border security with a physical barrier because people can come under, around it and through it."
Other GOP senators registering strong reservations included Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, and Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
So while House speaker Paul Ryan and majority leader Mitch McConnell are ready to explode the deficit to make nicey-nice with Trump, funding that border wall faces more than a few hurdles in Congress. Sad.