Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), a key negotiator on President Trump’s demand for a border wall, said on Sunday that congressional talks are stalled, raising the prospect of another government shutdown at week’s end.
“I think the talks are stalled right now. I’m hoping we can get off the dime later today or in the morning because time is ticking away but we’ve got some problems with the Democrats dealing with ICE, that is detaining criminals that come into the U.S. and they want a cap on them. We don’t want a cap on that,” Shelby said on “Fox News Sunday,” referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Democrats have told GOP negotiators that they won’t agree to spend more than $2 billion on border barriers, well below the $5.7 billion that Trump has called for.
In addition, a new issue has roiled the talks: a dispute over the number of beds at immigrant detention centers.
Democrats want to limit the number of people detained at the border, while Republicans oppose restricting the capacity of detention centers.
The two sides also have yet to reach agreement on how much money should be spent on border barriers, Shelby said on Sunday.
“We’ve got to start movement,” Shelby warned.
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