GOP lawmakers: We’re not going to let Trump’s ‘Concrete Nail Gun’ make us pay for the border wall
Republican lawmakers are increasingly turning to the blunt force of their own fists to pressure President Donald Trump to build a border wall.
The Trump administration’s new request for $1.7 trillion in funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has sparked a new round of bipartisan support for building the border barrier, including from several Republican lawmakers.
The president has said he won’t accept the funding and is demanding that Congress approve a bill that would do so.
But even if Congress fails to pass the border funding package, Trump’s administration is expected to continue to push for a border fence.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner on Tuesday, Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said, “I am very supportive of the president and the border.”
The Republican lawmaker, who has previously pushed for a fence and other border security measures, said he was “very hopeful” that Trump would eventually agree to the border fence and that his proposal would be included in the border security bill.
Walker said he believes “there will be bipartisan support” for a long-term fence along the border, but he cautioned that Trump should wait for Congress to pass a border security funding bill before proceeding with building the wall.
“If the president’s not going [to sign the border fencing bill] in the next few days, I’m not going into a negotiation with him,” Walker said.
“He’s not ready to sign it, and I think we have to wait for a few more days.”
The border fence is the first major piece of legislation the House has passed since Trump took office.
A bipartisan border security package would provide $1 billion for the construction of a wall on the U