Since December 22 last year, the US government has been partially "suspended" for more than 20 days, setting the record of the longest government shutdown in US history. U.S. President Trump insisted on "no wall, no budget", while congressional Democrats were determined to fight the president to the end. For Trump and the Democrats, this impasse is not only about the immigration policies of both sides, but also the "first war" since the new Congress took office. The compromise and concession of either side may give the other side an advantage in the game in the next two years or even longer.
The previous record of the longest closing time of the US government was 21 days during the Clinton period, and this time it had been 22 days since January 12. Trump insisted that the Congress allocate 5.7 billion dollars to build the separation wall at the border between the United States and Mexico, otherwise he would not sign the budget; The Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, refused to fund the construction of the wall. Many consultations between the two sides ended in failure. As of January 11, Trump, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Democrat Pelosi have not loosened their words, which means that the deadlock of closing the door may continue.
Trump insists on building the wall because it is one of his campaign commitments. In the 2016 general election, one of Trump's core slogans to mobilize voters was to strengthen border security and combat illegal immigration by building walls. After taking office, trumpeting the building of the wall became Trump's means to fulfill his campaign commitment and plan for the 2020 general election. A new poll released on January 11 shows that more than 80% of Republican voters support building a wall at the border, which means that building a wall has become a symbol of Trump and the Republican immigration policy.
Contrary to the Republican Party's pursuit of security through building walls, the Democrats believe that building walls is a purely wasteful project of human and financial resources, which is not enough to solve the problem of illegal immigration influx. More importantly, Democrats believe that building the wall is "very un American" and runs counter to the open immigration policy of the United States in the past. Most Democratic voters opposed the building of the wall, which became the "backup" for the Democrats in Congress who were determined to fight the President to the end.
For Trump and Pelosi, the deadlock in building the wall is also related to their "success or failure". The Democrats who won the House of Representatives in last year's mid-term elections chose Pelosi, 78, as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. It became Pelosi's "mission" to confront Republicans and Trump. In the face of splitting the Congress, Trump, 72, also seems not to pay attention to the possible resistance of Democrats. In this way, the construction of the wall has become the "first battle" between Trump and Pelosi. At least in the next two years, the two will have countless similar confrontations.
From the current situation, it is unrealistic to expect Trump and the Democrats to compromise to resolve the deadlock. One of Trump's possible options is to declare a state of emergency and use the funds of the Ministry of Defense to build a wall, but this actually means that Trump "concedes" because the Democrats have not conceded on the budget issue, and because the follow-up funds for building the wall will still be a problem. This "tussle", in which no one wants to step back first, may be affected by external factors such as public opinion and economy.
(The article in this column was originally published by China Industrial Network. If it is reproduced by online media, the source must be indicated as "China Industrial Network". If it is reproduced by print media, it must be authorized by China Industrial Network.)
