White House chief of staff Mulvaney won't rule out possibility of another shutdown

 nbcnews.com  02/10/2019 15:06:14 

WASHINGTON — Five days ahead of the latest funding deadline, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that he "absolutely cannot" rule out the possibility of another partial government shutdown if Congress doesn't come to an agreement that includes substantial funding for a border wall.

Mulvaney blamed the uncertainty on congressional Democrats, arguing that the party appears torn between the "hardcore, left wing" that sees any funding for President Donald Trump's signature border wall as a non-starter, and a more moderate faction that appears open to compromise.


"You cannot take a shutdown off the table and you cannot take $5.7 billion off the table," he added of Trump's initial price tag for the wall.

But he said that the "most likely outcome" is that Congress strikes a deal palatable enough to win the president's signature.


Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, told "Fox News Sunday" that "talks are stalled" and that there's a "50/50 chance" that Congress can reach a deal to avoid shutting the government down for the second time in two months.

The wall remains the largest sticking point in these negotiations. Trump still says the wall is necessary. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has so far held firm on her party's opposition to its funding.

And a senior Democratic aide told NBC that there are other major debates yet to be solved, including a Democratic push to trade funding for new border barriers for a limit on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's detention beds as a way to push back at the administration's border policies.

Republicans and Democrats have until Feb. 15 to find an agreement thanks to last month's deal that lifted the historic 35-day partial shutdown.

Even if Congress ultimately passes something Trump supports, Mulvaney described any deal as the beginning not the end, of Trump's efforts to build the wall he believes is necessary to secure America's southern border. One option that's been floated by the president and his allies is declaring a national emergency to secure the funding, but it's unclear whether that would survive a legal challenge.



Ben Kamisar

Ben Kamisar is a political writer for NBC News. 

Kelly O'Donnell contributed.
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