{"id":18250,"date":"2019-01-07T19:56:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T19:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/07\/border-wall-fight-foreshadows-washington-gridlock\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:43:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:43:44","slug":"border-wall-fight-foreshadows-washington-gridlock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/budget\/2019\/01\/07\/border-wall-fight-foreshadows-washington-gridlock\/","title":{"rendered":"Border wall fight foreshadows Washington gridlock"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 New year, new dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The divided U.S. Congress started its new session gridlocked over a partial government shutdown, foreshadowing a year of inactivity and partisan confrontations with the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With President Donald Trump insisting Congress fund his a border wall<\/a> on national security grounds, defense watchers worry the dynamic could ensnare defense spending and other Pentagon priorities in 2019. Plus, a Senate vote last month to buck Trump\u2019s support for the Saudi war in Yemen could signal a more confrontational approach by Congress to Trump\u2019s foreign policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House, led by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, closed out its first day of the 116th Congress by passing six spending bills to reopen most of the federal agencies that have been closed since the partial shutdown began Dec. 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But because the package did not contain the border wall funding Trump sought, he threatened to veto it. In turn, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed not to let the Senate vote on any package Trump won\u2019t sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who will blink?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump was unable to win border wall funding when the GOP controlled both chambers and the White House for two years, so it\u2019s unclear why he thinks he can convince House Democrats, who feel they were elected just weeks ago to oppose him on immigration and other partisan issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Democrats want to reach beyond their base, they may have to find common ground with Trump. As one defense lobbyist put it: \u201cIt really feels like the wheels are starting to come off, and Democrats need to be careful because they need to show they can govern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the House Armed Services Committee, the new chairman, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., is poised to challenge the administration. He said Jan. 6 that he wants to call hearings on the Trump administration\u2019s dispatch of 5,600 troops to the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith also questioned Trump\u2019s pronouncement the U.S. should cut its military losses and withdraw from Syria \u2014 which Trump reversed after a GOP backlash and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned in protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After White House national security adviser John Bolton said Jan. 6 the U.S. is not going to withdraw its troops until Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promises to protect the Kurds and the Islamic State group is defeated, Smith ripped Trump for insulting America\u2019s valuable allies and sewing confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\t