Faith groups oppose massive increase in border spending
Despite a last-minute, stopgap spending bill to allow lawmakers to pay their respects to former President George H.W. Bush [1] this week, conflicts over proposed budget increases to fund controversial measures at the border still threaten a possible, partial government shutdown just before the holidays.
Lawmakers had been facing a Friday deadline to resolve conflicts over a longer-term spending package that President Donald Trump has said must include funding for a border wall. The stopgap bill would give them two more weeks [2] to come to an agreement after Bush's funeral on Wednesday.
But an interfaith group is still planning a press conference today to address the border funding issue, and a Catholic social justice lobbying group is pushing for the Senate version of the appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security, because it contains $1.6 billion for border fencing, compared to the House version, which provides some $5 billion requested by Trump for the border wall.
"We fought to get it as low of a number as possible, and I wish it was lower," said Social Service Sr. Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobbying organization, which originally pushed for no increase to border security funding.