Chuck Schumer thought he was sitting in the catbird seat.
He thought after the debt ceiling deal he held all the cards.
But Trump just revealed his true plan and it was a crushing defeat for Schumer.
Schumer thought by agreeing to Trump’s three-month debt ceiling deal he could corner the President on his promise to build the wall.
The Democrats know they will provide votes to eventually raise the debt ceiling so Schumer believed he could stop any effort by Trump to include funding for the wall and grant ‘Dreamers’ amnesty all in one giant bill.
But Trump had other ideas.
The deal he struck allowed for the Treasury Department to use extraordinary measures to push the debt ceiling in 2018.
That eliminates the Democrats key leverage point.
Now Trump can dare the Democrats to shut down the government over funding for the border wall.
To show how serious the administration is, the Department of Homeland Security has granted waivers so construction of the wall can begin.
KVOA reported:
This waiver is pursuant to authority granted to the Secretary of Homeland Security by Congress and covers a variety of environmental, natural resource, and land management laws.The Department has exercised the waiver authority in Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), as amended, on five previous occasions from 2005 to 2008, as well as exercising this waiver authority earlier this year for a project in the San Diego area, which was announced in August.
This current waiver covers certain border infrastructure projects in the United States Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector, a critical sector for border security. In fiscal year 2016 alone, the United States Border Patrol apprehended more than 19,400 undocumented immigrants and seized approximately 2,899 pounds of marijuana and approximately 126 pounds of cocaine in the El Centro Sector.”
Current immigration law already gives Trump the authority to begin construction of border fencing.
KVOA also reported:
“Section 102(a) of IIRIRA provides that the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take such actions as may be necessary to install additional physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the United States border to deter illegal crossings in areas of high illegal entry into the United States. In section 102(b) of IIRIRA, Congress has called for the installation of additional fencing, barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors on the southwest border. Finally, in section 102(c) of IIRIRA, Congress granted to the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to waive all legal requirements that the Secretary, in his sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure the expeditious construction of the barriers and roads authorized by section 102 of IIRIRA.
The Department is implementing President Trump’s Executive Order 13767, Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements, and continues to take steps to immediately plan, design and construct a physical wall along the southern border, using appropriate materials and technology to most effectively achieve complete operational control of the southern border.”
Schumer and Nancy Pelosi thought they ran circles around Trump with this three-month debt ceiling deal.
But in reality, Trump gave up nothing and the agreement deprived the Democrats of their best weapon.
Trump pushing ahead with the wall shows the December negotiation will include a massive fight over delivering on the President’s signature campaign promise.
