In December 2018, with the possibility of a government shutdown that month looming, the House passed a bill funding the government through February and providing $5.7 billion for the border wall between the United States and Mexico favored by President Trump hours after he told House Republican leaders that he would not sign a package passed in the Senate due to it not providing money for the barrier. After the shutdown commenced, Gohmert was asked by Griff Jenkins how long President Trump should keep the government closed, Gohmert noting that it was only a fourth of the government that was shutdown as Congress had already approved other portions of the funding through September 2019 and answered that Trump should keep it closed "till hell freezes over" as Congress owed Americans border security. Gohmert added that the most compassionate thing the US could do for Mexico and Central America was to not bestow either country with "money that ends up in the hands of drug cartels." In a later statement, Gohmert said, "It is simply outrageous that people who live behind walls, gated communities, have armed body guards and lead the Democrat Party, like millionaire Speaker Pelosi, would deny the American public the simple right to be safe from dangerous criminal elements included in the groups pouring illegally into our country."