Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., supports building a border wall, but not shutting down the government over it.
"I think would be a mistake to shut down the government because of that," Rep. King told Fox News' "Outnumbered Overtime" on Tuesday. "If they can find a way to negotiate to get more money for border security and find a way the president perhaps can use a military or defense funding to build the wall."
A shutdown would be bad for the government, and would hurt the Republican Party politically, he added, "maybe not in the states the Freedom Caucus represents," but in states with suburban areas, "this is a bad idea. With the 2020 elections, they should keep that in mind."
There are "so many other things going on," said King, listing China, North Korea, and Yemen. "You can go down the whole list. Iran, the economy itself. That's what we should be focusing on."
The White House has identified funding sources outside congressional appropriations to help reach the $5 billion President Donald Trump has demanded for a wall along the border with Mexico, press secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News earlier Tuesday.
"We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion," including one bill that would provide $26 billion in border security, including $1.6 billion for the wall, Sanders told Fox News. "That's something that we would be able to support" as long as it is coupled with other funding, such as using defense money on border security, she said.
"At the end of the day, we don't want to shut down the government," Sanders added. "We want to shut down the border from illegal immigration."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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