, ,

US Rep. Gwen Moore Unsure Of ‘End Game’ For Government Shutdown

Moore Said Republicans Are Being 'Held Hostage' By President Trump

By
Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., sits with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus
In this March 22, 2017, photo, from left, Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., House Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn of S.C., and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus meet with President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore said she isn’t sure what the “end game” is in the dispute between President Donald Trump and Congress over funding for a border wall.

The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that included $5.7 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but the measure appeared unlikely to clear the U.S. Senate.

Senators had previously passed a “continuing resolution” that would fund the government without money for the wall.

Stay informed on the latest news

Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

But Trump announced he would veto any bill that did not include funding for the wall, and said on Friday that the government would shut down “for a very long time” unless the Senate approves the funding.

Speaking on WPR‘s “The Morning Show,” Moore said she thinks conservative media figures are influencing Trump’s decisions and other Republicans are afraid to buck the president.

“People are being held hostage, I think, to a very mercurial president,” Moore said.

Moore said she isn’t sure what will happen next.

“I decided to ask some of my Republican colleagues what’s the next step and they didn’t know,” Moore said. “Nobody knows what the end game as it were is.”

Trump has said Democrats will own the shutdown because they won’t help pass the border wall funding in the Senate.

Moore said Democrats will support increased funding for border security, but not for the wall.

Related Stories