Dems say Trump can avert shutdown risk if he relents on wall

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump could avert the risk of a government shutdown next weekend by stepping back from his demand that lawmakers fund his promised border wall with Mexico in a must-pass spending bill, Congress' two top Democrats said today.

"If the president stepped out of it, we could get a budget done by Friday," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said today in a conference call with reporters, referring to Democratic and Republican budget negotiators.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed. She said that while Trump had promised during his campaign to build the barrier, "He did not promise that he would take food out of the mouths of babies" and cut programs for seniors, education and the environment to pay for it. She called the wall an "immoral, ineffective, unwise proposal."

Democrats timed their call to mark the 100th day of Trump's presidency, which falls next Saturday. They said that Trump has repeatedly broken his campaign promises to help working-class Americans, and cited a GOP health care bill that Pelosi called "a moral monstrosity," proposed cuts in domestic programs and a failure to advance tougher trade policies.

Saturday is the same day the government will run out of money unless lawmakers pass legislation financing federal agencies.