Sen. Casey: Trump should reopen government before he negotiates border wall

Sen. Bob Casey
Photo credit Mark Makela/Getty Images
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Wednesday marks day 33 of the government shutdown, and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey has ideas on how to end the impasse. 

He said says the first condition should be opening the government, and then negotiating the terms. When President Donald Trump shut down the government, Casey said it was an irresponsible act. 

"The worst thing we could do is empower him to shut down the government every time he doesn't get his way," he said. "I mean, do we want to have Donald Trump shut the government down again, three months from now, again, or six months from now, or a year from now?"

I have supported increased funding for border security, but I won’t vote to fund a wall that security experts say won’t work.

— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) January 19, 2019

Casey noted the shutdown is having widespread effects across the country. 

"It's hurting people who work for the government," he said, "who missed their paychecks and are about to miss another one. But it also hurts people (like) senior citizens who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition (Assistance) Program, or children who depend on it. They're only guaranteed food assistance through February."

Casey said Trump's proposal over the weekend to end it was not made in good faith either. 

"This is a serious issue. What the president proposed was not a serious proposal. It was a proposal slapped together to pretend that he was acting in good faith, when, obviously, he wasn't."

He said if the president was serious about ending the impasse, he would be spending time with both parties to come up with a solution. And if Trump wants to negotiate over the border, Casey said he should end the government furlough, and then both sides can talk.