A GOP lawmaker is shooting back at President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE, saying Democrats and Republicans seeking to negotiate a border security to deal and avert a second shutdown are not wasting their time

“No we're not wasting our time,” GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito Shelley Wellons Moore CapitoSecond GOP senator to quarantine after exposure to coronavirus GOP senator to quarantine after coronavirus exposure Hillicon Valley: Zuckerberg acknowledges failure to take down Kenosha military group despite warnings | Election officials push back against concerns over mail-in voting, drop boxes MORE (W.Va.) told Hill.TV in an interview on Wednesday.

“I think to have the 17 of us in the room — seasoned appropriators, members that have for many, many, many years worked on the appropriations process and reached compromise on very difficult issues — I don't think we're wasting our time,” said Capito, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security subcommittee.

Trump earlier in the day wrote that Republicans on the panel were “wasting their time” and that Democrats would not provide money “the desperately needed wall.”

Capito said Trump “knows we’re not wasting our time,” but that he may be trying to push lawmakers “into quicker action.”

Capito came away from Wednesday afternoon’s first meeting optimistic that the group will “get a conclusion that the president can sign.”

—Molly K. Hooper