White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that President Donald Trump has yet to engage with Democratic leadership on the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, despite the president’s comments last week that he would personally be involved in the talks.
Before departing the White House last Friday, Trump told reporters that he had not yet personally taken part in the DHS funding negotiations, but that he “will” soon. The department shut down after lawmakers failed to pass a stand-alone funding package, with major Democratic reservations about the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
However, Leavitt said at Wednesday’s White House press briefing that the president “hasn’t had any direct conversations or correspondence with Democrat lawmakers recently.”
“It doesn’t mean he’s not willing to. I’m just not aware of any conversations that have taken place,” she added. “I do know the White House and the president’s representatives have been in direct conversations with both Democrats and Republicans.”
Leavitt additionally claimed that “Democrats are the reason that the Department of Homeland Security is currently shut down.”
“They have chosen to act against the American people for political reasons, and now we have [Federal Emergency Management Agency] workers, the men and women of the United States Coast Guard, men and women of [Transportation Security Administration] who keep our airports moving, who will be working without paychecks for no good reason other than the Democrats wanting to pick a fight with Donald Trump,” she claimed. “The president thinks that is irresponsible and despicable. He wants the government to be open.”
Leavitt noted that Democrats submitted a counterproposal to the White House over the long weekend, which she referred to as “very unserious.”
TRUMP SAYS HE’LL BE PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN DHS FUNDING TALKS
“We hope they get serious very soon, because Americans are going to be impacted by this,” she concluded.
Watch Wednesday’s briefing in full below: