Republicans Are Already Waving the White Flag on Border Wall Funding

Less than 24 hours after House members returned from their August recess, Republicans are already looking ready to accept defeat on funding for a border wall ― and Democrats look just as ready to take that yes for an answer.

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House GOP leaders told members Wednesday morning that the goal was to have “no drama” before the midterm elections ― read: no shutdowns ― and that would almost certainly mean avoiding a fight with Democrats over border wall funding.

{snip} Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told HuffPost that, while he’d be willing to fight for a wall now, he thinks Republicans will have a better chance at winning in January.

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Meadows and other conservatives may currently think they have a better chance at winning a wall standoff after the elections, but even Meadows admitted that Trump signing more funding bills without wall money would make it harder to “win the next time.”

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Another senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), agreed that Democrats weren’t giving in to Republicans.

“We’re going back and forth, but we’re not going to give up on anything that we feel strongly about,” she said. “Democrats are really fighting hard.”

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True to form, by the end of Wednesday, Trump was already reversing himself on his desire to prevent a shutdown.

“If it happens, it happens,” Trump said. “If it’s about border security, I’m willing to do anything.”