Over 200 companies including one from Mexico have expressed interest in construction of the Great Trump Border Wall.
But Democrats may block the project.
Minority Leader Schumer has a plan to block the project… And Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may let him get away with it.
Axios reported:
** Schumer’s thinking: There’s nothing the Republicans would be willing to offer that could get Trump the eight Democratic Senators he needs to fund the wall. Mitch McConnell’s only other option would be to invoke the nuclear option and bypass the filibuster. But Democratic appropriators are betting the Republican leader won’t be willing to undermine such a fundamental Senate tradition just to pay for Trump’s wall.
** The evolving plan, being discussed by Schumer’s office and Senate appropriators: If Republicans put money for the wall into a bill, Democrats block it. It doesn’t matter what else is in the bill — Schumer will make it about the wall. The way Democrats see it, if they can block the wall, they’d crush a central feature of Trump’s political identity. And as the face of the strategy, Schumer would thrill the Democratic base (though less so the red-state Democratic senators up in 2018).
** What happens next: Team Trump knows it’s not going to be easy to fund the wall. A source familiar with the administration’s plans says the preferred strategy would be to attach the wall funding to the bill that funds the military. That way, Republicans could tell the public that Schumer and the Democrats are blocking money not only for border security but for our troops. They’ll run relentless attack ads against Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2018 in states that Trump won.
