As the government shutdown goes into week two, many are wondering what it will take to put an end to it. President Donald Trump has stood strong on his claim that he will not sign any spending bill that does not include the $5 billion he has demanded to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, however Democrats have made it clear they will not give in to his request.
Solutions have been suggested by countless officials over the last few weeks regarding the partial government shutdown. And now, as the Hill reports, North Carolina Representative Walter Jones has offered his own solution — that President Trump should tap into his own personal funds to help pay for the border wall.
In a statement released on Friday, December 28, Congressman Walter Jones called for a “fiscally responsible wall funding plan,” so as not to add to the country’s already crippling national debt of $22 trillion.
And while Jones does agree that it is “essential” to improve security along the country’s southern border, he noted that it is “morally irresponsible” to fund the project by continuing to borrow money, instead offering options that can be found internally. One of his suggestions called upon the president personally to provide the money he has been demanding.
“As a wealthy man, the president might consider pledging some of his own funds as well,” Jones said in his statement. “Whatever it takes, just so long as we don’t add to the debt that is bankrupting our great country.”
Republican Rep. Walter Jones is worried that Trump’s border wall will add to the federal debt — so he’s proposing that Trump pony up some of his own money for the wall.
“As a wealthy man, the president might consider pledging some of his own funds.” https://t.co/32IZYLgkGt
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 31, 2018
Jones also suggested slashing foreign aid, specifically starting with the war in Afghanistan, and “cutting other wasteful federal spending” as methods of raising the funding needed for the project.
President Trump has called for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border since he began campaigning for office, however his original plan was to have Mexico provide funding for it.
Now, it is in the hands of the United States to fund the project. Trump has demanded a sum of $5 billion be allocated for the wall within a new spending bill for Congress.
Lawmakers had until midnight on Saturday, December 22 to come up with a new spending bill. However, with Democrats opposing the president’s funding request, no solution was found — leading to a partial government shutdown that is expected to go into the first week of 2019.
And while the president may take Rep. Jones’ suggestion and dip into his own savings to pay for the wall, others, as the Inquisitr previously reported, do not think Trump will receive any such funding. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo thinks that President Trump may forgo his pricey request all together.
