Trump news: President demands billions for border wall as Pelosi says he 'isn't worth' impeaching
Donald Trump will reportedly ask Congress for $8.6bn (£6.6bn) to build his southern border wall on Monday under proposals for his 2020 fiscal budget, a $3bn (£2.3bn) increase on his last estimate for the job.
The White House is proposing $2.7trn (£2trn) in spending cuts for the year beginning 1 October, a reduction of 5 percent across all non-defence agencies while military funding is boosted to $750bn (£577bn).
Senior Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were quick to shoot down the proposals, saying the president had “hurt millions of Americans and caused widespread chaos” with the recent 35-day government shutdown and warning: “Congress refused to fund his wall and he was forced to admit defeat and reopen the government. The same thing will repeat itself if he tries this again.”
As Washington reacted to the budget proposal, the country's capital prepared for the anticipated report from special counsel Robert Mueller's office, which has dived into potential coordination between the Trump campaign, the president, and Russian interests during the 2016 election.
It is not clear when that report will be released, but observers say that the investigation is likely imminent. The week ahead itself will contain several high level updates that could set the stage for how the report is received, and what happens afterward.
But, with no specific word on whether the special counsel report will include recommendations to indictments against the president, leading Democrats are holding back from support for impeachment.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, for instance, told The Washington Post on Wednesday that she is worried about the divisive impact that impeachment proceedings would have on the American public.
"He's just not worth it," Ms Pelosi said of impeaching the president.
That said, it appears unlikely that Democrats in control of the House would not pursue impeachment if a damning Mueller report were delivered to them form the attorney general's office.
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