According to Senator Roy Blunt, the money that is necessary for funding the construction of Trump's "huge wall" is going to be left out of the spending bill that must be passed by April 28th. This is partially due to the desire to avoid a partial government shutdown. His statement came after President Trump requested supplemental funds for the Wall to be included in the spending bill. Blunt says that the supplemental funding could be dealt with at a later time.
What will the wall cost and who will pay for it?
The wall, which was one of the key arguments for President Trump during his campaign, was estimated by the President to be around $12 billion.
It is now said to cost about $21.6 billion. .
Some of the plans to pay for the wall include using portions of the money that is sent home by immigrants. As one could guess this did not go over well with money transfer companies nor Mexico. Another idea presented by the President of the United States is to use money seized from the drug cartel. The final proposal presented is to have a border tax. They are suggesting a twenty percent tax on imports from Mexico.
What could happen if the funding is included in the spending bill?
Democrats have threatened to block the spending bill if funds for the wall were included in the budget. This may not seem like a huge deal to everyone, however, if the bill is blocked the federal government would shut down at midnight on April 28th.
A government shut-down includes a lot more than 800,000 government employees being temporarily sent home. Trash collection is discontinued in Washington D.C. Flights would continue as usual however the processing time of passports will be delayed. This means if the government shuts down and you have big plans to travel abroad and are waiting on your passport, you may want to reconsider your travel plans.
Benefits for veterans and the disabled may be delayed, but the government officials who shut down the government to begin with, will still be paid.
The wall may be a great idea to some. However if it is the cause of a federal government shut-down, is it really worth the amount of money it requires to build it?
