Trump supports three-week CR; pledges to declare national emergency without final deal

By Tony Bertuca / January 25, 2019 at 3:03 PM

President Trump said today he would support an agreement to re-open unfunded government agencies for three weeks to strike a final deal for a southern border wall, but pledged to declare a national emergency if such an agreement cannot be reached.

Trump, in a Rose Garden press conference, said he would declare the national emergency to fund a wall on the southern border "if we don't get a fair deal" by Feb. 15.

"As everyone knows, I have a very powerful alternative but I didn't want to use it at this time," Trump said. "Hopefully it will be unnecessary."

The president said he hoped the three-week continue resolution would offer time for "spirited debate."

The federal government has been partially shut down for 35 days, impacting 800,000 employees and more than 1 million contractors.

Democrats in Congress continue to oppose Trump's plans to build a wall on the southern border and have vowed to fight the president should he attempt to fund it using Defense Department money obtained through a national emergency declaration.

Influential Republicans have also said they would oppose any plan to fund a non-defense project like a southern border wall with defense money.

Meanwhile, the House Armed Services Committee, now chaired by Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday on DOD's current operations supporting the Department of Homeland Security on the southern border.

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