Tuesday, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) cautioned against holding people “hostage,” saying once it is allowed President Donald Trump will try to do it “time and time again” for whatever he wants.
Menendez said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that President Donald Trump himself holds the power to end the partial government shutdown, but he is holding people hostage with his constantly “moving target” for his planned border wall.
“[W]e need at the end of the day for the Senate to act,” Menendez told co-host Mika Brzezinski. “Our argument is there was a unanimous vote. I believe, if Senator McConnell would put the bills that Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats in the House have passed that would fully fund the government on the Senate floor, that it would pass and it would pass with more than 60 votes and send a clear message to the president that he’s in the threat of ultimately being overridden on any veto he might consider. That would move the ball forward. But at the end of the day, we can’t be in a situation where you’re just holding hostages, because once you do that and you succumb to it, then the president will use this tactic time and time again for any other issue he wants to achieve.”
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