Dems seek to put GOP on record on Trump border closure – POLITICO

House Democratic leaders are considering a vote to condemn President Donald Trump’s calls to shut down the southern border, in a clear attempt to force Republicans into a difficult political spot, according to several lawmakers.

Top Democrats discussed the measure at a meeting in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office Tuesday evening. It‘s not clear when the measure — which would formally reject the White House’s repeated threat to halt all traffic along the U.S.-Mexico border — might be brought to the floor.

Story Continued Below

The vote would be strictly symbolic, but it would dare Republicans to oppose the White House on its signature issue.

The measure would reaffirm that Trump’s immigration policies are “not in the economic interest of the United States of America,” according to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, who has seen the draft.

“This notion that we can close the border is just stupid,” Thompson said. “The notion that because he’s throwing a hissy fit because he can’t get his way that he’s going to put the entire economics of the United States in peril doesn’t make sense.”

The measure could also include language backing asylum seekers, amid the White House’s threat to cut off support. Though Thompson said he believed that Democrats should move quickly on the measure, a senior Democratic aide with knowledge of the meeting said no timeline had been set.

The outcome of meeting, the aide said, was that Democratic leaders are considering doing a resolution and having a vote on it, period.

Democrats are looking to put Republicans on the record on multiple controversial Trump policies, including a measure this week condemning the administration’s legal attempt to dismantle Obamacare. It’s a tactic borrowed from Senate Republicans, who have forced Democrats to go on the record on progressive policies like Green New Deal.

“We’re going to be very vocal about what a terrible decision that would be, how destructive and harmful [it is] to the economy all over the United States,” Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said after the meeting.