President Donald Trump urged Senator Mitch McConnell and Republicans in the Senate on Friday to fight to pass funding for border security.
“Senator Mitch McConnell should fight for the Wall and Border Security as hard as he fought for anything,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “He will need Democrat votes, but as shown in the House, good things happen.”
House Republicans passed a funding measure on Thursday evening with a vote of 217-185, energizing Republican supporters of the wall.
Trump was immensely pleased with the results of the House vote.
“No matter what happens today in the Senate, Republican House Members should be very proud of themselves,” he wrote. “They flew back to Washington from all parts of the World in order to vote for Border Security and the Wall. Not one Democrat voted yes, and we won big. I am very proud of you!”
The president warned Democrats in the Senate that they would be responsible for a government shutdown if they voted against the bill.
“If enough Dems don’t vote, it will be a Democrat Shutdown!” he wrote.
Several senators have already left Washington, DC, for the Christmas holiday, but McConnell is expected to bring the bill to the floor for a vote on Friday afternoon.
Retiring Republican Senator Bob Corker replied, “I doubt it” when reporters asked him if he would return to Washington to vote on the funding bill.
“Y’all have fun! I may not see y’all again for a while,” he quipped as he prepared to return to Tennessee.
Trump defended his promised wall on the Southern border, defying Democrats who described it as “old-fashioned.”
“The fact is there is nothing else’s that will work, and that has been true for thousands of years,” he wrote. “It’s like the wheel, there is nothing better.”
He argued that a wall was necessary to help secure the border, combined with the best technology.
“I know tech better than anyone, and technology on a Border is only effective in conjunction with a Wall,” he wrote. “Properly designed and built Walls work, and the Democrats are lying when they say they don’t.”