Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Pelosi's Plan to End Shutdown 'Puts the Needs of Other Countries Above the Needs of Our Own Citizens'

By Tom Porter On 1/2/19 at 6:54 AM EST

U.S. Donald Trump Government Shutdown Nancy Pelosi Border Wall

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the House Democrats' plans for a deal to end the partial government shutdown a "non-starter" in a statement late Tuesday.

"President Trump made a serious, good faith offer to Democrats to open the government, address the crisis at our border, and protect all Americans," Sanders said. "We have heard nothing back from the Democrats, who so far have refused to compromise.

"Speaker Designate Nancy Pelosi released a plan that will not re-open the government because it fails to secure the border and puts the needs of other countries above the needs of our own citizens," said Sanders.

GettyImages-674456264 — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and and Representative Barbara Lee arrive for a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, April 28, 2017. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called Pelosi's plan to end the partial government shutdown a “non-starter” in a statement late Tuesday. Getty Images

President Donald Trump invited congressional leaders from both parties to the White House on Wednesday for a briefing on border security. The briefing will be the first face-to-face meeting between Democratic and Republican leaders and the president since the partial shutdown started 11 days ago. The shutdown has affected a quarter of the U.S. government, resulting in tens of thousands of workers being furloughed without pay over the holiday period.

Trump has demanded that any budget must include $5 billion in funding for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, while Democrats have refused that demand, offering $1.3 billion for enhanced border security measures, which would not include a wall.

Under measures tabled Monday by House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the government agencies that have shut down during the border dispute would be funded through next December, except for the Department of Homeland Security which will be funded until February 8, according to The Washington Post.

The bills are expected to be passed by the new Democrat House majority after the members are sworn in on January 3.

A short-term funding bill was approved by Congress earlier in December but was ultimately rejected by Trump after he received savage criticism by conservative commentators.

"The president is using the government shutdown to try to force an expensive and ineffective wall upon the American people, but Democrats have offered two bills which separate the arguments over the wall from the government shutdown," Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement, reported Politico. "If Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans refuse to support the [bill without DHS funding] then they are complicit with President Trump in continuing the Trump shutdown."

In her statement, Sanders reiterated the White House demand for wall funding: "The Pelosi plan is a non-starter because it does not fund our homeland security or keep American families safe from human trafficking, drugs and crime.

"The President has invited Republican and Democrat leaders in Congress to the White House for a border security briefing from senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials on Wednesday, and he remains committed to reaching an agreement that both reopens the government and keeps Americans safe."

Request Reprint & Licensing, Submit Correction or view Editorial Guidelines