Sen. Chris Coons said on Monday that President Donald Trump's shift from insisting on a concrete wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to a steel slat barrier marked a "minor but important" step toward compromise on solving the ongoing partial government shutdown.

Coons (D-Del.), in an interview with Fox News‘ “Fox & Friends,“ indicated that he was encouraged by the move away from a completely concrete wall, a position that he said he hoped the president would stick to. Trump formally requested funds for a “steel barrier” over the weekend, along with additional money for other needs at the southern border. Coons said the shift was significant, with the caveat that Trump has at times been inconsistent in his demands and rhetoric on the issue.


The shift, Coons said, is "progress" on the part of the White House toward the end of the shutdown.

Trump's demand for a physical barrier on the nation's southern border has led to a lapse in funding for wide swaths of the federal government, shutting much of it down for the last 17 days. Democratic leaders have thus far been insistent that they will not appropriate any money for Trump's border wall, which he had initially promised would be paid for by the Mexican government.

As evidence of the president's shifting border security demands, Coons noted that just two weeks ago, Trump shot down departing chief of staff and former Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly’s insistence in an interview that the White House had moved away from a concrete wall early in Trump's administration.

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“I hope the president will hold to that position, because that is a minor but important difference in technology. A fourth-century concrete wall that you can't see through will be a less effective border barrier,” Coons said Monday, noting that the president is seeking additional wall funding even as his administration has yet to exhaust money already appropriated by Congress.


“I am someone who is willing to see more border fencing as long as we choose a technology that DHS says is going to be effective and I do think his moving towards steel slats rather than concrete wall, if it holds, is important.”

The Delaware Democrat was also critical of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for his lack of involvement in funding negotiations. McConnell has insisted that Trump deal with Democrats to solve the funding impasse and that his chamber will not take up any legislation that does not have the support of the president.

Coons also said that Trump’s consideration of declaring a national emergency to unlock military resources for building a barrier on the southern border would quickly be challenged in court, and that the better path forward was “to reach a responsible compromise here that recognizes our broken immigration system needs to be resolved and we need to invest in border security.”