Paul Ryan spoke to the press a short time ago about how the Democrats are holding up funding for both the military and SCHIP over DACA:
"We want to fix DACA in a balanced way, so we don't have the same problem down the road. That is just pure common sense," House Speaker Paul Ryan says https://t.co/JiwWojq74o pic.twitter.com/mLG9y8bx7v
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 17, 2018
Ryan makes clear that Republicans want a deal on DACA, so he doesn’t understand why Democrats are holding up the funding for the military and SCHIP.
He reiterates that it makes no sense:
Speaker Paul Ryan: “It makes no sense for Democrats to try and bring us to a shutdown … cool heads hopefully will prevail on this thing” https://t.co/c9ykIth1cW
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 17, 2018
Ryan believes ‘cooler heads’ will prevail and there will be an agreement. I have my doubts.
I think what’s really happening here is that Republicans are trying to use DACA as leverage for the border, so the Democrats are in turn trying to use the government shutdown as leverage of their own. This is why you hear Democrats this morning saying they won’t vote for a simple funding bill to avoid a government shutdown, because that will take away the only leverage they have.
As a side note, Ryan was also asked about Bannon and not answering any questions to the House Intel Committee. His comments on it won’t impress you:
Paul Ryan on Steve Bannon reportedly refusing to answer House Intel Committee questions: "There has always been a tension on executive privilege between the legislative branch and the executive branch ... I don't know the specifics on it. I really don't." https://t.co/JiwWojq74o pic.twitter.com/0dXkwZLFv7
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 17, 2018