Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, standing outside the White House, has just announced that President Donald Trump is refusing to sign a bill to avert a federal government shutdown. The President agreed earlier this week to sign the bill, but after attacks from his base he has flip-flopped.
Trump has demanded $5 billion to build his wall and to fulfill a campaign promise – at least in part. He had promised for years that “Mexico is going to pay for the wall.”
The Senate has already passed the stop-gap bill, without the $5 billion for a border wall, and the House was all set to vote on and pass it today. Trump subsequently caved to right wing extremists, including Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh.
Speaker Ryan characterized the meeting he just concluded with President Trump as long and “productive.”
The deadline to avert a partial shutdown is Friday at 11:59 PM ET.
Watch:
UPDATE: 1:46 PM ET –
CNN reporter:
UPDATE II: 2:04 PM ET –
The actual drop just hit $600:
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