Schumer warns Trump over his threat to shutdown the government over funding for his wall

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer says that Donald Trump’s promise to shut the government down over his promised border wall would only hurt the US financially, and wouldn’t accomplish anything further.

“If the President pursues this path, against the wishes of both Republicans and Democrats, as well as the majority of the American people, he will be heading towards a government shutdown which nobody will like and which won’t accomplish anything,” Mr Schumer, the leading Democrat in the Senate, said in a statement.

Mr Trump made the government shutdown threat during a 2020 campaign rally in Phoenix the night before, when he promised that he’d follow through on his signature campaign promise, no matter the cost.

“If we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” Mr Trump told the crowd in Arizona, implying that he’d reject federal funding legislation if Congress doesn’t include funding for his wall.

Rejecting federal funding legislation aimed at avoiding a government shutdown, if such a bill landed on his desk, would mean Mr Trump rejecting funding measures sent to him and approved by his own party. Mr Trump, during the campaign rally, blamed Democrats for obstructing his legislative goals before making the shutdown threat.

Republican leaders in Congress also dismissed the wisdom of a shutdown to force legislative ideas down the throats of opponents. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said that his party was opposed to allowing the government ot shut down, but ceded that a short term resolution may be necessary to avoid one.

"I think that will probably be necessary, yes, because I can't imagine the Senate will be able to process the appropriations bills as quickly as the House is," he said during a press conference.

"I don't think a government shutdown is necessary, and I don't htink most people want to see a government shutdown, ourselves included," Mr Ryan said.

The threat was enough to rattle financial markets, though, and send a signal of what may come if Congressional leadership fails to come up with a solution to raise the country’s debt ceiling and pass spending bills.

Wall Street analysts estimate that Congress has just 12 days to work things out after returning from recess before a government shutdown would send all but essential federal employees on furlough.

After Mr Trump’s shutdown threats, the US stocks and the dollar weakened, pushing investors to pivot to US Treasury securities. meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3 per cent, the S&P 500 dropped 0.25 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.32 per cent. Benchmark S&P fell below its 50-day moving average again as well, which is a key level it has struggled to keep since falling behind earlier in the month.

Should the government be shut down, credit ratings agency Fitch said that it may have to review the US’s debt rating, which is an indicator of the soundness of the US economy.