Trump is handing new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a political gift by forcing rifts in his own party as she’s maintained a united front. With the new Congress just sworn in Thursday, already two swing-state senators up for reelection in 2020—Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine—have defected from the White House line on a border wall. And the three remaining House Republicans representing seats that Hillary Clinton carried have all broken ranks and voted to reopen the government without wall funding and against Trump’s wishes.
There’s only been limited polling since the government shutdown begun, but none of the findings are encouraging for the Trump administration. A Reuters/Ipsos survey, conducted between Dec. 21-25, found only 35 percent of respondents favored including money for a border wall in the congressional-spending bill. Just 25 percent support shutting the government down to secure the wall funding. Those are the numbers that are prompting Republicans to break away, and Democrats to remain united.
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