Top Republicans warn against emergency declaration
WASHINGTON: Top Republican lawmakers on Sunday warned against US President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency to secure funds for a border wall, signalling doubts within his party as a government shutdown was set to enter a fourth workweek.
Senator Ron Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, told CNN he would "hate" to see Mr Trump invoke emergency powers for a wall.
"If we do that, it's going to go to court and the wall won't get built," he said.
Representative Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, told ABC "We don't want it to come down to a national emergency declaration", even if he believes Mr Trump has the authority to do so.
Mr Trump only recently backed away from talk of an emergency declaration, after pressing it for days as a way out of the budget stand-off.
Democrats have strongly opposed the idea. The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Mr Dick Durbin, said on Sunday on ABC that "if this President is going to turn to national emergencies every time he disagrees with Congress, I'm against it".
He urged Mr Trump to "put an end to the shutdown and put everything on the table".
As the battle drags on, the effects of the partial shutdown have become clearer, and new polls show growing public dissatisfaction. On Sunday, Mr Trump acknowledged, at least indirectly, the mounting costs of the shutdown.
"The damage done to our country from a badly broken border - drugs, crime and so much that is bad - is far greater than a shutdown, which the Dems can easily fix as soon as they come back to Washington," he said.
Many lawmakers spent the weekend in their home states.
Mr Trump has tried various angles to pressure Democratic negotiators, but they have not visibly budged from an offer to support border security spending - the figure of US$1.3 billion (S$1.8 billion) has been floated - but not the US$5.7 billion he wants for a wall.
Two new polls indicate the Democrats may be winning the battle for public support.
The Washington Post/ABC News survey found that far more Americans blame Mr Trump and the Republicans for the shutdown than blame the Democrats - by 53 per cent to 29 per cent.
A separate poll by CNN showed Mr Trump's disapproval rating among Americans had climbed by five points - to 57 per cent - in just a month, with just 37 per cent approving.
But the Post poll also found a hardening of Republican support for a wall, with 70 per cent now saying they strongly support the wall, up from 58 per cent a year earlier. - AFP
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