by Molly Prince
The third-ranking House Republican, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday for opposing proposals that she recently supported as a way to resist negotiating with President Donald Trump.
“It’s very difficult to understand when you’ve got the president’s proposal that obviously includes money for the border wall, also includes an extension for the DACA folks, also includes an extension for TPS. Those are issues, DACA in particular, that Speaker Pelosi, she commandeered the floor of the House of Representatives for eight hours less than a year ago on particularly this issue of helping to ensure that people that are here, the so-called dreamers, are not deported,” Cheney told Chuck Todd while on “Meet The Press.”
“For [Pelosi] now to simply reject out of hand when the president actually has said ‘okay let’s look at ways we can come closer,’ it shows you they’re just not interested in negotiating,” Cheney continued.
The Republican-led House passed a stopgap funding bill on Dec. 20 that included appropriations to construct a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. However, with a 51-seat majority, Senate Republicans fell short of the necessary 60 votes needed to send it to Trump’s desk for signature.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to kill any legislation in the Senate that includes border wall funding, and consequently, a government shutdown has been in effect since funding expired Dec. 21.
Both sides of the aisle have been locked in a political stalemate over an appropriations bill, and as a way to come to the negotiating table, Trump introduced a plan on Saturday that included a three-year extension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and those in Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Democrats have been avid proponents of both issues.
Pelosi rejected Trump’s proposal before it was even formally announced, calling it a “non-starter.”
“Speaker Pelosi has said she will be a champion of the dreamers,” Cheney said. “When she’s willing to play games, when she’s willing to pull political stunts, but she’s not actually willing to come up with solutions, it makes it very difficult to come to an agreement here.”
Watch the full interview:
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Molly Prince is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Molly @mollyfprince.
Image “Lynne Cheney on ‘Meet the Press'” by Meet the Press.
