House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) on Sunday said Republicans "don’t want" President Trump
Donald TrumpSenators given no timeline on removal of National Guard, Capitol fence Democratic fury with GOP explodes in House Georgia secretary of state withholds support for 'reactionary' GOP voting bills MORE to be forced to declare a national emergency over the border wall, adding that the president would prefer that Congress "solve this problem."
"The president’s been very clear, Congress needs to solve this. The only people that have been unwilling to put any kind of offer on the table have been Nancy Pelosi
Nancy PelosiSenators given no timeline on removal of National Guard, Capitol fence Democratic fury with GOP explodes in House House Republican attempts to appeal fine for bypassing metal detector outside chamber MORE and Chuck Schumer
Chuck SchumerHillicon Valley: Biden signs order on chips | Hearing on media misinformation | Facebook's deal with Australia | CIA nominee on SolarWinds House Rules release new text of COVID-19 relief bill Budowsky: Cruz goes to Cancun, AOC goes to Texas MORE. The president’s put multiple offers on the table," Scalise said, referring to the Speaker and Senate minority leader, respectively, during an interview on ABC's "This Week."
"We don’t want it to come down to a national emergency declaration," he said.
Scalise added, however, that Trump has the "authority" to declare an emergency over what Trump has deemed a crisis at the southern border.
"Clearly the president’s got authority under law but he’s said he doesn’t want it to come to that. He wants Congress to solve this problem. Congress needs to solve this problem," Scalise added.
"We don't want it to come to a national emergency declaration," House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 13, 2019Stephen (Steve) Joseph ScaliseThe Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - J&J A-OK, Tanden in Trouble Feehery: How Republicans can win by focusing on schools Former RNC chair to Republicans looking for new Trump party: 'There's the door' MORE says about ending the shutdown.
"The ultimate plan is for Congress to solve this, and the president's been very clear: Congress needs to solve this" https://t.co/P6iz1j1VA4 pic.twitter.com/jHn0WalYLr
The partial government shutdown, now in its fourth week, was prompted because of Trump's refusal to sign a bill to fund the government that didn't include at least $5 billion for a wall along the southern border.
With Democrats vowing not to approve any funding for a wall, Trump has threatened to declare a national emergency to build the wall — something Democrats have said would spark an immediate legal challenge.
Trump said last week that he would rather see Congress approve funding for a wall. But he also said last week that it would be "surprising" if he doesn't declare a national emergency.
