(CNSNews.com) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives would not provide funding for President Donald Trump to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
At the same time, Pelosi said that she and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were in agreement that there should be no government shutdown.
The federal government is currently running on a continuing resolution that expires on Nov. 21. To keep the government running beyond that date, Congress will need to pass a new funding bill and President Trump will need to sign it.
President Trump has asked Congress to appropriate $5 billion in fiscal 2020 for building the border wall. The Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that was approved by the House Appropriations Committee in July provides $0 for physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.
CBS’s Margaret Brennan asked Pelosi: “You met with the Treasury secretary this week. He said the White House has no intention of allowing another government shutdown.”
“Agreed,” said Pelosi. “We're all in agreement on that.”
“Does that mean Democrats will provide funding for the border wall?” Brennan asked.
“No, no,” said Pelosi. “We have well over a trillion-dollars worth of decisions to make. I don't know why we would go to that. The president hasn't built any new wall in a whole term of office.”
Pelosi also indicated she did not believe Trump was serious about the border wall.
“I think that his comments about the wall are really an applause line at a rally, but they're not anything that he's serious about,” she said.
Here is the transcript from the segment of Pelosi’s appearance on “Face the Nation” where she discussed the border wall:
Margaret Brennan: “You met with the Treasury secretary this week. He said the White House has no intention of allowing another government shutdown.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “Agreed. We're all in agreement on that.”
Brennan: “Are you confident you can avoid one?”
Pelosi: “Well, let us hope that left to their own devices, the appropriators can avoid that.”
Brennan: “Does that mean Democrats will provide funding for the border wall?”
Pelosi: “No, no. That's--We have well over a trillion-dollars worth of decisions to make. I don't know why we would go to that. The president hasn't built any new wall in a whole term of office.
“I think that his comments about the wall are really an applause line at a rally, but they're not anything that he's serious about.”