The $5.7 billion Donald Trump wants to fund his border wall is just 0.13 per cent of what the federal government is spending this year
- President Donald Trump’ is demanding $5.7billion to fund border wall
- If given $5bn, this would amount to 0.126 per cent of annual fiscal spending
- The federal government shutdown has now entered its 19th day
The cost of US President Donald Trump’s border wall that has caused a three-week shut-down of the federal government would amount to just 0.13 per cent of its annual spending, according to reports.
The $5.7billion the president demands is a fraction of the $4.5trillion federal government budget for 2019.
The government shutdown has now entered its 19th day, and will see Congressional Democrats head to the White House today to ask Trump to accept a bipartisan bill to fund border security without the wall.
US President Donald Trump paints the Mexico border as an open gate for criminals, including rapists, terrorists, people with dangerous diseases and phony asylum seekers
Democrats are sticking to their offer in legislation which they passed the day they took control of the House, which offers $1.3bn for border security.
This includes physical barriers and technology along the U.S. southern border, bu does not cover the cost of building steel wall Trump has in mind.
During the fiscal year of 2019, which started on October 1, the Office of Management and Budget has estimated that the federal government will spend a total of $4,509,641,000,000, pro-Trump website CNS News reports.
The right-wing news website compared this to the $68.5bn they claim the federal government spent on food stamps in 2018.
A cornered President Trump will hold talks with congressional leaders from both sides today, with his options running out for ending a prolonged partial government shutdown.
An art exhibit occupies part of the U.S.-Mexico border fence on the Tijuana, Mexico side; Trump wants to erect more sections like it in hundreds of miles of border territory where no barriers exist
President Donald Trump is demanding $5.7 billion in new congressional spending for his long-promised border wall
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, pictured with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the president ‘could end shutdown and today, and he should’
The impasse has left 800,000 federal employees without pay, and the partial shutdown that started December 22 is now approaching the longest on record.
Senators say the shutdown has led to disruptions in agricultural payments for farmers, as well as for home buyers trying to secure government-backed home loans. Lawmakers also are worried about missed paychecks for government workers Friday.
As many as half a dozen GOP senators have said the government should reopen while border security negotiations with Democrats continue.
‘We MUST fix our Southern Border!’ Trump tweeted Wednesday morning, ahead of planned meetings with lawmakers later in the day.
But there were few signs of a breakthrough.
‘Neither side feel they can cave and not pay a terrible political price,’ Republican Senator Marco Rubio said on Fox News.
‘Unfortunately, two things caught in the middle are securing our borders, and the men and women in federal government,’ he added.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday the president ‘could end the Trump shutdown and re-open the government today, and he should.’