It is almost hard to believe that the very same funding deal that President Donald Trump rejected in December when he drove the country into a partial government shutdown—and that Trump and all but six Senate Republicans rejected again last Thursday—is the one that Congress finally adopted unanimously and that President Trump ultimately signed the very next day. The pain the shutdown caused to approximately 2 million federal government workers and contractors, as well as to their families and communities, was literally all for nothing. With this deal, Trump temporarily caved on his commitment to shut down the government for “months or even years” if he failed to secure $5.7 billion for wall funding. However, securing that funding remains his top focus heading into a bipartisan, bicameral conference committee that aims to produce full-year government funding legislation for both House and Senate consideration.
With a new Congress and a bipartisan process underway, the government’s spending decisions should cease to be a de-facto blank check to the Trump administration. Funding levels should be based on the needs of the country overall and on the facts on the ground along the U.S. border—not on the president’s immigration lies. This column establishes what the ground rules should be for the negotiations beginning today and how this process can lead to a spending package that makes real improvements without sacrificing immigrant communities or humanitarian protections—all without blowing through established budget caps. Continue reading “What Should and Should Not Be in Any Homeland Security Funding Deal”