Trump vows shutdown over border wall funding

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to shut down parts of the government unless he receives a spending bill that includes funding for his long-promised wall along America's southern border.

"Any measure that funds the government must include border security. Has to. Not for political purposes, but for our country," Trump said at a bill signing shortly after meeting with leaders of the House of Representatives. "I've made my position very clear."

During a contentious meeting with the Democratic leadership last week, the president warned he would be "proud" to shut down the government if a spending bill that reached his desk did not include the $5 billion he is seeking to fund his border wall.

The Senate on Wednesday passed a stop-gap spending bill that would have kept the government open and funded through Feb. 8 but did not include the funds requested by Trump.

The House was scheduled to take up the Senate's spending legislation before Trump called a meeting with leading House Republicans at the White House.

After departing the sit-down, House Speaker Paul Ryan said he would be returning to the House to "work on adding border security to this".

It is unclear if any such legislation would be able to clear the chamber.

If House Republicans are able to wrangle the votes, the future of such a bill remains uncertain because Senate Democrats who would be needed to advance the changes through the chamber have resisted efforts to fund the wall.

Any bill would require 60 votes in favor in order to clear procedural hurdles in the tightly-contested chamber, and several lawmakers have already departed Washington for the Christmas holiday.

Markets tumbled after Trump's announcement, with the Dow falling as much as 560 points before posting a relatively lower loss of 464 points.

Should the government shut down Friday at midnight, it would be only partial. Roughly 75 percent of the government would remain open under a bill passed in September, which provided funding for the Department of Defense and the Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services departments.