What do you know. Donald Trump is capable of learning from the negative outcome of his actions, sort of. After rightly being blamed for the record-breaking government shutdown from December to January, Trump has indicated that he plans to sign the bipartisan deal to keep the government open this time around—even though it provides less funding for border barriers than the deal the Senate passed last year, and that money is for fencing, not a wall. Congress is expected to vote on the funding package Thursday.
“I don't want to see a shutdown, a shutdown would be a terrible thing,” Trump said Wednesday, in a major tone shift from his December “I am proud to shut down the government” bluster. Wednesday, he continued, “I don't want to see another one, there's no reason for it.” Lesson sort of learned, with a lot of hand-holding from top Republican negotiator Sen. Richard Shelby, who has been telling Trump that the $1.375 billion is a “down payment” on his wall.
At the same time, the Trump administration is looking to use executive action to divert money from all over government into wall-building, considering sources such as Treasury forfeiture funds and some military funding. Some of the pieces of money would require Trump to declare a national emergency and others wouldn’t, but, CNN reports, “they are likely to be rolled out piece by piece, not necessarily all at once, once Trump signs off.”