President Trump on Tuesday said he supports shutting down the government to ensure changes to immigration law, regardless of political consequences.
“I don’t care what the political ramifications are, our immigration laws and border security have been a complete and total disaster for decades, and there is no way that the Democrats will allow it to be fixed without a Government Shutdown,” Trump tweeted.
“A Government Shutdown is a very small price to pay for a safe and Prosperous America!” he added.
{mosads}Trump has in each of the last three days expressed a commitment to shutting down the government when the fiscal year ends in September if he does not receive funding for his border wall, as well as changes to legal immigration programs.
A shutdown so close to the November midterms could prove disastrous for Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and are attempting to hold off a Democratic effort to retake control of the House and Senate.
Trump first raised the idea in a Sunday night tweet, then doubled down on the concept during a Monday press conference with the Italian prime minister.
“If we don’t get border security after many, many years of talk within the United States, I would have no problem doing a shutdown,” Trump said.
Trump added that he’d be willing to “leave room for negotiation.”
While the president remains publicly committed to a shutdown, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press have both reported that Trump is willing to delay the fight over funding for his border wall until after the midterms.
However, conservatives in the House are pushing to revive the debate before the midterms.
A number of Republicans have said they don’t believe a shutdown would be productive. GOP leadership has expressed confidence that it can plan out the appropriations process in a way that will keep the government open, while possibly kicking a longer debate over border wall funding down the road.
The GOP’s approval rating tanked in 2013 after a 16-day shutdown following a GOP attempt to stop the implementation of ObamaCare.