
Even as the federal government drifted toward a partial shutdown over the last few days, itβs been obvious to just about everyone that it was an entirely avoidable crisis created by Donald TrumpβsΒ temper tantrum last weekΒ during a photo op with Democratic congressional leaders. Even as he wasΒ signaling he was backing down on his border wall demands, he let himself get baited into a chest-pounding statement on his ability and willingness to shut down the government if he didnβt get his way. So the question since then has been how long it would take the president to creep back to his previous position.
The answer just arrived via a bland statement from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, asΒ reportedΒ by the WashingtonΒ Post:
Sanders told Fox News Channel: βWe have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion.β
βAt the end of the day we donβt want to shut down the government, we want to shut down the border,β Sanders said.
Sanders said the White House was exploring other funding sources and believed it could be legally done.
βThere are certainly a number of different funding sources that weβve identified that we can use, that we can couple with money that would be given through congressional appropriations that would help us get to that $5 billion that the president needs in order to protect our border,β she said.
This is apparently an allusion to Trumpβs talk about using Department of Defense resources to help build the wall, which he was deploying to walk back the appropriations demand before his Oval Office meltdown. In other words:Β Never mind!
It shouldnβt take congressional Republicans that long to cut a deal with Democrats to keep the government open beyond the current December 21 deadline, now that their chief seems willing to get out of the way. But it would be wise to keep an eye on the presidential Twitter feed until the deal is completely done.
Update:
Trump appears to have gone from issuing threats that heβs going to shut down the government and take the blame for doing so to begging for help to keep the government open and trying to blame the Senate for not allowing him to do so. Never let it be said that the President is reluctant to change his mind.